AI, Digital Technology& Innovation Central To Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative-Salako
Artificial Intelligence (AI), digital technology as well as innovation are central to the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.. The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako stated this on Friday, June 27, 2025 in Lagos at the 5th Africa Digital Health Summit which is being held at the Eko Hotels and suites. The two-day Summit which was put together by the Premier Medical System aims to bring together innovators, academics, entrepreneurs, development partners, policy makers and others in order to harvest the transformative power of digital technology for Africa’s universal health coverage agenda.
Salako said all efforts are needed to strengthen health systems in Africa because the transformative power of digital health in improving healthcare delivery especially in the areas of quality, efficiency, outcomes, transparency and governance can not be overemphasized. The summit is expected to cover diverse range of topics from digital innovations for community health workers, teleconsultation, AI deployment, data security to promoting innovations
The Minister said the summit has the capacity to facilitate knowledge exchange, networking and ultimately positively impact the digital health landscape in Nigeria and across Africa.
“I am particularly excited to see the focus on empowering Nigerian healthcare students and enhancing health technology development through cross-institutional incubators. This is a critical step in building a robust digital health ecosystem that can drive innovation and entrepreneurship. I look forward to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare being availed of the outcome of the Summit.
“Digital technology is revolutionalizing the way we do things by removing physical barriers, enhacing work-flow and automation, ensuring better access to services, tranforming feedback mechanisms and improving productivity. In the health care sector, the use of electronic medical records, telemedicine, remote patient monitoring, mobile health applications, AI powered diagnostics and other solutions have no doubt leapfrog the health care delivery system.
“The Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Health recognises these fundamental benefits and has therefore identified digitalisation as a cross cutting enabler of our agenda to save lives, reduce physical and financial pain and produce health for all Nigerians. Consequently, the Nigeria Digital in Health Initiative has been born to drive the agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR to ensure that every Nigerian is able to receive the healthcare they need, where they need it without any financial hardship. The NDHI is poised to protect and expand the Nigerian digital health space by providing standards and ensuring interoperability between solutions. It will also create millions of jobs by harvesting the innovative energy of the Nigerian youth. The private sector is the cornerstone of this effort and I will like to use this opportunity to encourage you to continue providing the needed expertise, financing and investment needed to deepen the penetration of digital technology in our health system. I assure you of government readiness to continue creating the enablement environment for you to thrive in the provision of digital solutions for healthcare delivery.”
He acknowledged the collaborative contribution of the various sub-national governments in working together through the commissioners of health and the digital health focal persons in their various states to ensure that the digital health agenda of the Federal Government is a true national agenda.
“I also commend our partners and our healthcare professionals who are working tirelessly to harness the power of digital technology for health. Across government and multisectoral partnerships is what we need to bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, ensuring that digital health solutions are scalable, sustainable and not fragmented. Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, health is being treated as an urgent matter of right for all Nigerians. Therefore, as we navigate the complexities of digital health, it is essential that we prioritize equity, accessibility, and sustainability. We must ensure that our digital health solutions are designed with the needs of our most vulnerable populations in mind , and that they are accessible to all who need them.”
He stressed the need to robustly ringfence digital health solutions against threats, cyberattacks, breaches, outages and the potential misuse of patients data.
“We must prioritize ethics and safety in our solutions and deployments. The Federal Government recognises the complimentary role of power in delivering cost effective, efficient and impactful digital health solutions. A National Stakeholders Dialogue on Power in Health is being convened later in the year to address the challenge of power deficit in our health care system and set the stage for round the clock healthcare digitalisation.”
