The federal government has unveiled plans to build Nigeria’s digital health ecosystem on the principles of security, interoperability and data sovereignty, describing the move as critical to integrating artificial intelligence (AI), big data and other digital technologies into healthcare delivery.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, disclosed this on Tuesday at the Insights Learning Forum (ILF) 2026, eHealth Africa’s flagship digital health conference held in Abuja.
Mr Pate was represented by the pioneer National Coordinator of the National Health Technology and Data Analytics Office (NHTDAO), Obi Adigwe.
He stated that although digital health interventions are already being implemented across hospitals, laboratories and disease surveillance systems, Nigeria must ensure they are developed within a unified framework that guarantees the security of health information, enables systems to communicate seamlessly and protects the country’s data.
“Interventions are going on, but the key problem is that whatever is going on, three key principles must underpin engagement in the digital health space: security, interoperability and sovereignty,” he said.
