Last week we attended the Future of Health Conference 2016 in Abuja, Nigeria. The theme this year was Health Meets Tech so attendees included everyone from health practitioners and government to tech entrepreneurs and NGOs.
The rich discussions during the conference centered on the use of technology to solve challenges in the health sector and various speakers and panels highlighted some of the top initiatives currently underway in this space. For example, Dr. Ernest Madu spoke on the use of technology to disrupt healthcare delivery and touched on the challenges of setting up a state-of-the-art health facility in southeastern Nigeria. And Mr. Akinwunmi Fajola from Shell Nigeria spoke about increasing access to healthcare through technology. He gave the example of their use of Whatsapp to diagnose seizure disorders in remote Niger Delta villages and get patients the critical medication they need.
One of our favorite quotes from the day was:
“We can use technology to teach rudimentary, but life-saving skills.”
-Dr. Mairo Mandara, Country Representative, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
We 100% agree. It was a great day and we learned a lot! Thanks to Nigeria Health Watch and their partners for organizing the conference. We’re really looking forward to seeing the collaborations that are sure to result from having so many pioneers, game changers, and health/tech leaders in the same room. Together, we can use technology to push our health sector forward.
You can catch up on all you missed by searching the conference hashtag #NgHlth16 here on Twitter and Instagram. And check out our gallery below for some highlights from the day.
