FG to digitalise healthcare system, boost research funding

The Federal Government will digitize the healthcare system, according to Dr. Tunji Alausa, Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, for improved health outcomes.

Alausa made this statement on Saturday during a press conference about the ministry’s plans for the health sector.

He said that, in keeping with President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda,” the government will increase financing for research and that, by digitizing the health system, accurate data would be made more accessible.

We must start by making sure that the data we gather is reliable, vetted, and credible both locally and globally, he said. And the care that is provided to our people will be based on those data. Once you have data that has been verified and that you can rely on, you can start to see the indicators of where you’re improving, where you’re doing well, and where you’re not doing so well. Once you have improved those results, you can reevaluate your interventions.

“As part of the healthcare system’s digitalization, we’re launching a national electronic medical record that will bring primary care offices, elected officials, and hospitals onto the same platform. Then, as time goes on, we’ll push every state government to employ the same system.

According to Alausa, the integrated electromedical platform will facilitate quick access to data, medical history, continuity of service, and lower healthcare costs.

The government will support national research, he claimed, and the industry will be more accountable and well-regulated.

Many research institutions exist here. Everyone is conducting their own work. We shall reorganize our research institutes so that they operate together and accomplish their intended goals. In academia, there are many professors who are struggling. They work on their research projects all by themselves without any support.

“As a professor, less than half of your work should consist just of instructing students in classrooms; it should instead involve a lifetime commitment to research. Because we will invest more money in research, we will unleash our basic, clinical, and translational research.

“Because as we conduct more research, we’ll start to rely less on outside sources for our medications, medical equipment, and even the way we put policies and procedures together because these are now made in-house.

We conducted tests on Nigerians, so we are aware of which drugs will perform better and which ones won’t. As a result, we’ll be making a serious shift to a platform that is more reliable, directed, and focused.