The 13th episode of ehealth Africa’s monthly Insight Webinar was held on 5th July, 2023 featuring seasoned health experts in Nigeria and Africa.

This episode titled “Innovations for Improved Disease Surveillance, Emergency Preparedness and Response”, provided a platform to chat pathways on how innovative ideas and systems can be used to improve surveillance in a bid to improve preparedness and response to potential health outbreaks of health emergencies. During the discussion, experts from Nigeria and Cameroon identified critical innovations and best practices in improving surveillance, preparedness and response to potential health emergencies. 

The Panelists identified the need to move from analog to a more innovative and digitized system of surveillance while revealing how  innovations can build data collection, analysis and sharing processes that will enhance early detection and response to pandemics. They also explained the need to integrate community stakeholders to improve understanding and deployment of surveillance tools giving examples of successful implementation in countries like Nigeria and Cameroon. Panelists call on governments, especially in more vulnerable countries, to improve its financial investment and ensure policies that promote innovations in disease surveillance, preparedness and response.

Host

Fatimah Howeidy: eHealth Africa  

Panelists

• Dr Tchokfe Ndoula Shalom : Permanent Secretary |Expanded Program on Immunization|Ministry of Public Health (Cameroon)

• Dr. Abdulrahman Ahmad : Public Director,  Ministry of Health Sokoto

• Dr Salawu Musa S : National Polio Emergency Operation Center, Abuja