Many African nations confront formidable challenges in sustaining vital health services while addressing prevailing and emerging health threats. The Africa CDC emphasizes the imperative of augmenting national budgets dedicated to healthcare, with a specific focus on essential health services. It urges governments, policymakers, and stakeholders to prioritize this commitment.
The overarching goal of the Gravitate-Health project (within the ECHAlliance project portfolio) is to provide easily accessible and understandable health information, aligning seamlessly with the broader mission of elevating public health standards across Africa. The hurdles faced by these countries regarding medication safety and pharmacovigilance are noteworthy. Integrating Gravitate-Health’s emphasis on promoting secure medication usage and pharmacovigilance into public health initiatives holds the potential to alleviate adverse drug reactions and fortify patient safety.
With this in mind, on November 23, 2023, ECHAlliance Member, Africa Health Business (AHB), conducted a highly successful webinar on empowering patients through digital health information as an official side event of the International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA). In collaboration with the Gravitate-Health project, a part of the ECHAlliance’s innovation portfolio, Dr. Anne Moen (Project Coordinator) was integrated into a powerhouse panel which convened 94 participants from various sectors including policy, (digital) health care, and patient organizations. The session aimed to foster a constructive dialogue on these pressing issues, seeking collaborative efforts and practical solutions, ultimately working to empower patients with digital health information, contributing to enhanced public health outcomes in Africa.
According to the event organizers, the perceived outcomes of this session included:
- Nurtured commitments towards increased investments for public health in Africa with a specific focus on leveraging digital health solutions to improve healthcare access and outcomes.
- A recognition for the need of increased utilization of digital health tools: ensuring that participants leave the session with an understanding of how to effectively utilize digital health tools and resources for better public health outcomes.
- An impactful effort to bridge the gap between healthcare infrastructure and patient empowerment by identifying areas of investment in digital health and informatics in the African context
Did you miss out on the live event? It’s not too late to join in on the conversation by watching the webinar recording here.
