The third annual workshop aims to strengthen national collaboration and create a shared learning network by bringing together senior officials from the health, finance, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sectors from East and Southern Africa.
Minister of Health Dr. Mekdes Daba explained that the main objective of the workshop is to bring about a shared regional digital health vision capable of building a more equitable, resilient, and financially sustainable primary health care system.
The Minister stated that participants will extensively exchange country experiences, implementation bottlenecks, and lessons learned from deploying digital health solutions; they will also enhance their technical understanding of how technology can improve health workforce management and data integration.
"We need to integrate digital health and telemedicine into our medical education, and enhance healthcare financing as well as healthcare workforce training," Dr. Mekdes noted.
Building on previous discussions, the workshop identified digital transformation as a key reform solution to address the vulnerabilities faced by health systems in the East and Southern African region, such as declining development assistance, weak health information systems, and workforce shortages.
By fostering inter-ministerial communication, the workshop aims to collectively strengthen governance, priorities, financing, and long-term sustainability for digital health investments across the African continent.