Pate: AI, advancement in computing to improve access to health

Guardian Nigeria

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00:00Now, Niger's Coordinator Minister of Health and Social Welfare Mohamed Ali Parti says

00:05artificial intelligence and advancement in computing will improve access to health for

00:09all, so no part of the world is left behind.

00:13In a chat with CNBC Africa at the World Economic Forum, he notes the focus of discussions is

00:17on the Global Women's Health Alliance while emphasizing the need to collaborate, innovate,

00:22cartelize and fund projects necessary for resilient health systems.

00:26Have a look.

00:28Half the world's population still lacks access to basic health services.

00:33Technology can make an important contribution, and AI in particular and quantum computing

00:38can help us get closer if managed properly, if governed properly, whether it's in training

00:45health workers or precision medicine, managing supply chains, getting intelligence on burden

00:53of disease, on public health threats and how we respond to them.

00:57I think we can factor in AI and advances in computing to help improve access to health

01:04for all people so that we don't leave a part of the world behind as we deploy newer technologies.

01:11And so it's important for the Global North, it's also important for countries like mine

01:15in Africa.

01:16Talking about the industries of the future and part of the key themes being explored

01:20here at Wealth, investing in people is one of the critical areas still being looked at

01:25and you can't invest in people that are not healthy.

01:28Let's get into that.

01:29And what is the Nigerian agenda here at Wealth?

01:31Well, there are several facets to our agenda.

01:34We have the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative which President Thunbo unveiled.

01:38We're implementing a transformative effort to expand primary health care, to deliver

01:42service to our population, to our women, to our adolescents, reproductive health services,

01:47maternal services, reduce maternal debts and child debts, invest in immunization while

01:53improving access to higher quality services, for instance, in cancer care, cancer infrastructure.

01:59So at Wealth, we have had discussions on the Global Women's Health Alliance of which we

02:04have joined and we would mobilize alongside other countries to learn together, to advocate

02:10together so that we don't leave a segment of our population, particularly women of which

02:14we know 800 women die daily from maternal debts which is really a crisis that can be

02:20hidden.

02:21And how do we innovate?

02:22How do we catalyze?

02:23How do we bring together different funding?

02:25So that's one strand.

02:26There's a strand on climate change and health.

02:30That interface, many of us suffer from flooding, see increasing burden of disease like malaria,

02:36seeing the impact of heat, droughts on food systems and yet we're bearing the brunt for

02:42things that we did not cause, primarily the climate change.

02:46And yet the financing for the adaptation in countries like ours has been largely talk

02:53and the actions that we advocate for include making financing available to countries, aligning

02:59behind government priorities but with multi-stakeholder partnerships at the country level to be serious

03:05about dealing with the consequences of climate change.

03:08In addition, the value chain that we have been trying to unlock in Nigeria has tremendous

03:13potential so the private sector leaders have an interest in terms of understanding the

03:18opportunities, the investments that can be made, whether it's in service delivery or

03:23even on things like biosecurity, preparedness and how the private sector technology as well

03:31as services and products can help us have better surveillance for public health purposes

03:36and strengthen health security for our own country, for the region and hopefully for

03:41the world.

03:42So what are the agendas that we've been pursuing while here at Davos in 2025?

03:48Because the end game here is building resilient health systems, you know, and when you look

03:51back the last five years, we've seen that COVID-19 exposed quite a lot of fragilities

03:55in there.

03:56But in terms of that journey to resilience and building resilience, what is it like for

04:00Nigeria, especially at the time where we see multilateralism as we know it being challenged,

04:04you know, and we saw how that helped during the time of the COVID pandemic?

04:07In Nigeria, we're owning our national agenda and we're moving away from dependency.

04:13We're mobilizing our private sector and also our domestic financing to address priorities

04:18that are germane for the Nigerian people but in a collaborative manner because we are not

04:23in isolation on the continent of Africa or globally.

04:27So that is key to the resilience because Nigeria cannot survive alone and our health system

04:33has to be robust and we need to invest the resources.

04:36Domestic resources can play a part but we also have to utilize our domestic resources

04:41and strengthen our private sector because private capital can flow from wherever it

04:46is in the world, whether from the United States, whether from Europe, whether from China, to

04:51help invest in the Nigerian health sector because it's a mixed health sector and there

04:56are opportunities in a large country that has 238 million people that is growing that

05:01also could contribute significantly in the continent of Africa.

05:04So we're open and I believe that is key to ensuring that we have a resilient health system

05:10that delivers what our people need but also is resilient to potential shocks when they

05:16emerge.

05:17Still on the topic of resilience now because keeping and maintaining the people on hand,

05:24the grounds, the specialists on ground, the medical professionals on ground is very critical

05:27and we are seeing that there's a huge brain drain happening in the country as it is right

05:31now.

05:32Can you imagine in terms of what the government is thinking in terms of the future to more

05:37or less keep some of our best hands in country?

05:40Well we're training more because when we train more some may leave and many will remain.

05:46For those who are at home in the country serving we appreciate those and we'll continue to

05:52improve their working environment so they continue to serve and technology can make

05:56the work easier in capacities, in knowledge, telemedicine and other ways so that we ensure

06:02we have a health system that functions and for those that we train in the diaspora when

06:07they want to come back to have the opportunity to come back and serve our country and wherever

06:11they're serving they're also learning, they have networks and they can deploy those networks

06:16to enhance our country's positioning in terms of its own health sector.

06:20At the end of the day we see win-win, whether we train and they leave, they contribute and

06:26they can come back and for those who are there they can also come back and deploy their capabilities

06:31in our country.

06:32So we are really open for business.

06:34Listening to the conversations playing out here so far, what has been your biggest takeaway

06:39from the WEF 2025?

06:41I think there are interesting times ahead in terms of global solidarity, in terms of

06:47multilateralism, in terms of whether we care for each other and whether we would have the

06:52willpower to confront common challenges, whether it's global inequalities or climate issues

06:59or health issues or pandemic threats.

07:01But at the end of the day there are also positive things, there are leaders who are interested

07:05in building new coalitions to forge ahead and I believe that the human race, humanity

07:12has proven it's a very resilient and this time will not be different and we'll forge

07:17ahead collectively but without leaving anyone behind, we focus on inequity because at the

07:23end of the day if we leave the poorest segments, the most vulnerable populations, we'll be

07:28getting into a far more unstable world and I believe that that is not what the majority

07:33of the world's population or world's leaders will want.

07:37And that was Nigeria's Coordinator, Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali

07:41Parti speaking on strategies to ensure resilience in Africa's health care systems.

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