• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Experts chart way forward on national ehealth standards

eHealth

Experts converged on Abuja for 12th edition of the Nigerian conference on Telemedicine and eHealth/Inauguration of technical committee ISOTC215-Health Informatics to chart a way forward for Nigeria on national eHealth standards.

Speaking during the two-day event which ended on Tuesday in Abuja, President of the Society for Telemedicine and eHealth in Nigeria (SfteHiN) Joseph Adebola Olajide reiterated that Society for Telemedicine and eHealth, Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) National Information Development Agency (NITDA) and Health Records Officers Registration Board, are strategizing to put Nigeria in the forefront among the leading nations in the world to maintain standards on ehealth.

He noted that the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health launched a National Health ICT Strategic Framework to guide eHealth implementation in Nigeria.

He added that delivering the National Health ICT Strategic Framework 2015-2020 a Sixty-two Page Document Published in 2016 with the vision “By 2020, Health ICT will help enable and deliver universal health coverage in Nigeria” requires a skilled and knowledgeable technical workforce to support the implementation.

“The participants present here today at the inauguration of the national technical and mirror committees on ISOTC215-Health Informatics will constitute the Foundation members of the committee. Also, become knowledgeable to recognize common standards and able to digital health, understand standard development process, management, and apply it to adopt and develop eHealth standards for Nigeria,” he said.

He noted that the two-day workshop has enabled the experts to expand their vision on the way forward on national eHealth Standards development with regard to training on standards, curriculum development and continuous professional development.

Adobola Olajide was also elected to head the National Mirror and Technical Committees, and he will be assisted by Ini Ekong, Assistant Director ehealth FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat and John Oladosu, a lecturer at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho as deputies.

Also speaking during the workshop, Director of Development in the SON, Chinyere Egwuonwu, noted that committee has become necessary because “information is very important and a determinant factor for the success or failure in healthcare service provision because the accuracy of the information provided and the efficiency of the equipment utilized will assist medical experts to achieve whatever result they desire.”

She added that It also brings about standardized activities and control in the use of medical information. “The scope of the ICT International Organization For Standardization, the technical committee known as ISOTC 215 is limited to standardization in the field of health informatics to facilitate, capture the interchange and use of health related data, information and knowledge to support and enable all aspects of health system to work perfectly.

“This ISOTC committee has developed 187 standards published targets; they also have 67 standards undoing development. So ISOTC 215 has 61 member countries. 36 of these member countries participating in this technical committee are participating members and 31 of them are observing members.

“Nigeria is participating as a P-Member and this provides Nigeria the opportunity to make meaningful contribution by way of national positions and concerns through this international standards development committee thereby making Nigeria’s position and concern very relevant and our concern taken care of in the cause of developing these international standards.

“The inauguration of this National Mirror committee and technical committee will help the stakeholders to participate actively both in national and international standardization activity. It is also a means by Nigeria’s voice and position can be established in the area of standard development of health informatics.

She tasked the committee to be responsible for establishing Nigeria’s position on issues relating to the activities of the ISOTC215 adding that they will be responsible for evaluating national standards or adopting international standards on health informatics and latest services.

 

Innocent Odoh, and Oyin Aminu Abuja