Health

 Policy Statement 

The government shall invest in IT based healthcare systems to ensure that Nigerians have access to good healthcare delivery.

 Objectives 

1. To use IT for the establishment of Health-care Information Systems (HIS) cutting across primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare systems.

2. To improve the efficiency of patient care and reduce cost of healthcare delivery.

3. To deploy IT for the development of drug information, records and bibliographic records.

4. To deploy IT for the study and control of epidemics.

5. To deploy IT as a research tool and means of disseminating information.

6. To reduce costs and improve productivity of healthcare administration and delivery.

7. To deploy IT for use in distance learning for medical professionals.

8. To use IT-based healthcare information system to educate on preventable diseases.

 Strategies 

1. Capitalise on existing global IT infrastructure such as the free Healthnet Satelife "nearly real-time" email facilities that connect, via e-mail, medical personnel at all levels in the developing world to each other, and to select health experts in developed countries.

2. Networking all healthcare institutions to collate information, share data and communicate on-line.

3. Establishing full Internet connectivity and access for healthcare professionals at all levels (primary, secondary and tertiary).

4. Making IT skills acquisition mandatory for all healthcare professionals thus achieving computer literacy within 24 months.
   a. Including IT courses in the curricula of all medical and para-medical education institutions.
   b. Establishing a network of co-operating centres/institutions for training education, software development and research to produce the software and necessary human resources needed.

5. Developing Software packages for; 
   a. The three levels of healthcare delivery, primarily to support clinical work and hospital management within the health facilities, so that the state/federal information statistics is produced as a natural by-product of the daily operations.
   b. Mandating local/state/federal government authorities to accumulate the information coming from all levels of healthcare delivery and also to produce the combined statistics primarily to support the decision making by the authorities.

6. Establishing in all hospitals, healthcare, epidemiological, and administrative records.

7. Use IT to combat serious national health threats such as HIV/ AIDS, leprosy, physical disabilities among many others, by using IT:
   i. To teach the youth on ways to prevent the transmission of HIV.
   ii. To educate the victims of HIV and their families on palliative measures and provide them with information through on-line conferences so that they can share their fears and experiences.