Barriers to Digital Health Adoption in Northern Nigeria: A Narrative Review
Résumé
Background: Over the last decade, the Health industry worldwide has engaged in the mass integration of various technologies into this industry, downsizing running costs while maximizing the efficiency of limited human resources and service delivery. Health sectors globally do not equally benefit from this adoption. Literacy and social infrastructure, among other economic indicators, are among the major factors impeding the development in this regard as this study aims to demonstrate. This Narrative Review discusses key barriers and concerns encountered with the integration of digital health in Sahelian Nigeria. Methods: An extensive search was performed across multiple Databases including PubMed and Google Scholar and information from WHO and local healthcare services websites were utilized in this study, in total, 27 articles and 2 sources were assessed. Results: Research Articles focusing on Digital health Technology in Northern Nigeria are scarce and not readily retrievable, the barriers noted during this Study are more or less the same which faced the sector at the pilot stage of its implementation, such as inadequate infrastructure (with only a few hospitals leveraging on the internet to improve interactive communication; mostly Federal Medical centers leaving behind General hospitals and cottage hospitals without such) and literacy challenges (63.16% literacy). Conclusion: Addressing these challenges necessitates a comprehensive strategy, encompassing curriculum restructuring to advance healthcare digitalization, implementing policies that foster technological development and adoption, and investing in adult education to facilitate modern technology utilization, more intensely targeting underprivileged rural areas. Therefore, institutionalization of digital health in the national health system in line with WHO’s guidelines on Strategy for Digital Health needs to be implemented.