BETTEReHEALTH contributes to the Nigeria Computer Society’s eHealth Forum
The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), umbrella body for all IT practitioners and interest groups in Nigeria, has a core mandate of developing and promoting IT in Nigeria. In over four decades of existence, NCS remains committed to promoting rapid national growth by providing necessary technical and professional supports in all sectors of the economy.
The NCS organized an eHealth Forum and Workshop on December 14-16, 2021, in order to assist health institutions in the design, implementation and deployment of dependable and robust smart eHealth systems.
BETTEReHEALTH representatives Konstantinos Antypas (Project Coordinator), Frederic Lievens and Sam Quarshie joined the event to present the BETTEReHEALTH project, as well as provide some insights from their own activities and experience. Frederic Lievens from Lievens-Lanckman in Belgium presented the general aims of the project and encouraged participants to actively join and make use of the BETTEReHEALTH Regional eHealth Hubs that have been set up by the project partners in four African countries and which cover the entire continent in order to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among eHealth stakeholders. He also presented the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth which is a global network of digital health stakeholders that also aims to support the implementation of eHealth, based on practical knowledge and experience of its members. Konstantinos Antypas from Norwegian research organisation SINTEF, provided a more in-depth view on some of the BETTEReHEALTH tasks and activities related to human, technical and policy factors for better coordination and support of eHealth in Africa. He also shared some examples of "Modern Strategies and Technologies for Smart Health Delivery" based on past and current SINTEF projects and activities in Africa and Europe. Sam Quarshie, Head of IT at the Ghana Health Service, spoke about their experience with the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the detection and management of tuberculosis.
BETTEReHEALTH looks forward to continue working together with the NCS and other Nigerian eHealth stakeholders in the coming months and to foster cross-country collaboration within the project’s Regional eHealth Hubs.