Abuja: Health experts have emphasised the critical role of technological advancement, especially Artificial Intelligence (AI), in accelerating Nigeria’s drive toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC). They made the emphasis in Abuja during a panel session on ‘Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Primary Healthcare in Nigeria’ at the ongoing Afrihealth Conferences and Exhibitions organised by Afrihealth Development Foundation and Africa Hub for Innovation and Development.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Dr. Kunle Kakanfo, Founder of Artificial Intelligence for Social Impact Development (AI4SID), said Nigeria must harness the opportunities that AI offers to strengthen its fragile health system. AI is already improving clinical decision-making globally, and Nigeria can benefit from similar interventions. “When you look at it from different angles, we’re seeing AI being used in clinical decision support with a lot of chatbots doing triage and helping people identify what their basic symptoms are, also helping healthcare workers to know which ailment is more important to treat,” he said. Kakanfo also highlighted how AI is enabling task-shifting, freeing highly-skilled health workers to handle more complex cases. AI models are being used for predictive analysis to forecast outbreaks, predict diseases, and support surveillance.
Kakanfo outlined areas of potential impact, including diagnostics and screening, telehealth, epidemic detection, health facility management, financing, resource allocation, and health literacy. Dr. Otse Ogorry, Country Director of Palladium Data. FI Project, emphasized the importance of regulation for the safe and ethical use of AI in healthcare. Nigeria currently lacks a national framework guiding AI deployment. “It’s important for the government to look at this, to have a regulation for AI so that we set ethical guardrails and ensure good use of AI in Nigeria,” Ogorry noted.
Mr. Abdulhamid Yahaya, Deputy Director for Global Health Informatics at eHealth Africa, stressed that the government must create an enabling environment for AI to thrive. “On the AI readiness index, Nigeria is scoring very low currently. Even though discourse is low now based on infrastructural, governance, and capacity readiness, I feel we are trending in the right direction,” he said. Yahaya added that AI is the most viable path for Nigeria to maximize its overstretched health workforce, especially given the high patient loads that community health workers face.
Dr. Kemisola Agbaoye, Director of Programmes at Nigeria Health Watch, raised concerns about Nigeria’s readiness for AI integration. “There’s a lot to consider for AI to become a reality in Nigeria. Basic data is key. I can’t effectively build a realistic AI system for healthcare without adequate data,” she said. Agbaoye identified data quality, infrastructure gaps, workforce skills, and lack of trust as major barriers. She stressed that while many AI-driven health solutions are emerging, showing promise for wider adoption, the country is not yet ready for full AI integration in healthcare. However, progress is being made, she noted.