Africa CDC, Smart Africa accelerate digital healthcare

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Smart Africa have concluded an agreement to work together towards accelerating the use of digital technologies to improve healthcare and strengthen health systems across the African continent. The signed agreement will focus on connecting all of Africa’s health facilities and workforce by 2030, advancing health data protection, portability, interoperability, and governance; and working together in the organisation of digital health convenings to be hosted by African Union Member States. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated home-grown innovation that resulted in a wide range of solutions for public health messaging, epidemic surveillance, screening, and diagnosis for rapid case identification, interruption of community transmission, and clinical care delivery. The digital tools not only improve the public health response but also generate vast amounts of data which, when harnessed within national health information systems, open avenues for advanced analytics, disease modelling, and forecasting. This reinforces the capacity of health authorities and policymakers to quickly detect, notify and effectively respond to public health threats.