FEATURED: AQS hosts workshop to explore transformative power of digital health solutions

Africa Quantitative Sciences (AQS), a start-up based in Rwanda, organised a workshop on January 25 to investigate the potential of digital health solutions and draw lessons from both global best practices and Rwanda's own healthcare digitalisation experience. The workshop brought together key stakeholders from the government, private sector, and international organisations to evaluate successful strategies and identify areas for improvement in the implementation of digital health initiatives. It was part of an initiative called Exemplars in Global Digital Health which is studying five high-performing countries (Rwanda, Ghana, India, Brazil, and Finland) that have leveraged digital health transformation towards improving primary health care (PHC) service delivery. The project also seeks to evaluate the successful strategies that can advance the integration of digital health into the systems for improved downstream population-level health outcomes. According to Hinda Ruton, founder and CEO of AQS, the workshop, organized in partnership with US-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Ethiopia-based University of Gondar, served as a collaborative platform for understanding and building consensus on the successes achieved in Rwanda in the realm of digital health. He said the planned research study, set to take place between February and June, aims to inform decision-makers about the drivers of success and challenges in implementing and scaling digital health solutions, ultimately benefiting Rwanda as well as other countries and international organisations. “The research will involve interviewing stakeholders and conducting quantitative assessments to understand the impact of these digital health solutions on primary health care (PHC) outcomes,” he continued. “The choice to focus on primary health care is justified by the fact that, as stated by the World Health Organization, 90 per cent of essential UHC interventions can be delivered through a PHC approach.” The research project was initiated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Exemplars in Global Health based at Gates Ventures, the World Bank, and the Joint Learning Network for Universal Health Coverage. It involves collaboration with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, eHealth Labs from the University of Gondar, and McKinsey Health Institute, along with research institutions in each country selected for study. Smisha Agarwal, an associate professor in the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins University and the director of the Center for Global Digital Health Innovation, said Rwanda was included due to its advanced digital health maturity and positive outcomes in primary healthcare. The goal is to facilitate global learning and innovation to support other governments in the process of digitising their primary healthcare services, she added. Discussing their expectations from the study, Agarwal emphasised their alignment with the expectations of Rwanda’s leadership. The aim is to provide insights for stakeholders and donors interested in making effective investments in the field of digital health. Dr Binyam Tilahun, an associate professor of Digital Health and Implementation Sciences at the University of Gondar, Ethiopia, said this Exemplars in Global Health study analyzed 194 countries’ use of digital health to enhance health system outcomes, where Rwanda stood out as one among the give exemplary country in the emerging category. “The project aims to document lessons from Rwanda’s success and create guidelines for similar economies,” he explained. During the workshop, Jean Baptiste Byiringiro, Chief Digital Officer at the Ministry of Health (MoH), presented a post-Covid overview of digital health in Rwanda, emphasising the crucial role of digital governance in implementing digital health solutions. Byiringiro said the ministry has also been investing in digital health to achieve universal coverage and ensure equity access to all citizens. With the introduction of RapidPro and Muzima digital tools, all community health workers use the digital tools for reporting emergency cases in the community. The Ministry of Health is also investing in digital health initiatives to achieve universal coverage and ensure equitable access to healthcare for all citizens, said Byiringiro. Several key projects are underway, including the development of a mobile health (mHealth) solution for community health, a full Electronic Health Record (EHR) for health posts by June 2024, and the goal of having all health centres use a centralised EHR by the same date, among other projects.

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FEATURED: AQS hosts workshop to explore transformative power of digital health solutions