Technology Can Put Peoples’ Health in their Hands- SFH

The Society for Family (SFH) has tipped technology as revolutionary tool in assisting the public, especially the rural dwellers to be better informed about health related matters.

SFH through it technical services ensures creativity and effective investigation in Public Health for all SFH messaging, reports, and ultimately projects through the Research unit, and Marketing & Corporate Communications unit which works on the public face of the organisation.

Speaking at this years’ Nigeria Innovation Summit (NIS) recently held in Lagos, Bright Ekeremadu, managing director SFH described technology as the game-changer in the health field, especially with the increased smartphone adoption that has assisted in information dissemination and ‘soft’ diagnoses.

Ekweremadu told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek SFH’s aim centres on education, research and innovation to better lives of the citizens while working in collaboratively with regulatory bodies. 

He said, “Our message is to let Nigerians know that there are very simple things that the Society for Family Health is doing that can help to put the health of our people in their hands. We have talked about some of them. One of such is that with technology you can actually know whether you have malaria, fever or headache by taking simple diagnosis test. It is widely available and affordable and not a must you go to hospital to get it. Fortunately, the National Council on Health (NCH) in 2015 approved that even paramedic vendors can carry out these processes for you to quickly know you have this malaria and treat it”.

Availability of quality data in health sector
Ekweremadu also underscored the importance of availability of quality data to assist the government in planning for the populace.

The SFH’s MD said, “Yes, Society for Family Health is working very hard to improve quality data collection in Nigeria. One of the platforms we talked about at this year’s Nigeria Innovation Summit is the eHealth. So many health providers out there are treating people, not been able to get the data to the national level. It is a simple technology that will make it possible for paramedic vendors in clinic and primary healthcare centre, on their own, be able to record health data they generate and immediately transmitted to the national data centre.

“There is already a national platform, but it needs to work optimally. We think there is a need for everybody to buy into it. We know this requires resources, not only in terms of money, but training of the health providers to be able to do it. Thank goodness that Nigerians have gone far in the usage of smartphones; and you do not really need a sophisticated mobile phone to be able to enter the data. All we needed is to consolidate the efforts and get everybody on the platform.

Improvement on heath Information dissemination
“We are working very assiduously to getting health related information across to the people. We do know that radio penetration in Nigeria is very high. So, we use the medium very often through jingles and radio dramas in four Nigerian languages.
We also know that there individuals in their capacity that can help get information across to the people. That informed our interpersonal group. They go with flipcharts, from house to house, to educate people about health matters. We also use TV and normal drama in market places to pass across the message. We know that a lot of our people are not literate, so using write ups may not be the best option.

Regulations And Support Apps Innovation In Health Sector
“I just want to be fair to our government. Very recently, I would say, our government has been receptive in new ways of doing things. For instance, when we took a memo to the National Council on Health, many people thought it was going to be impossible. But based on the evidence we presented, it was very well considered and approved. Secondly, we need to always cite example where what we are proposing is already operational if it is not completely know.

“An example is the task shifting that Nigeria is adopting where we are going down to traditional healthcare providers to deliver some treatment to our people. The government has accepted and approved it and it is working. And I think, a lot is being achieved. The caution is do not go ahead to deploy technology that is not tested and approved by policy making body. I think the environment will get it better. Just take your health in your hand”, he added.