Scaling Digital Health Across Africa
In October 2024, Dimagi hosted our inaugural CommCare Government Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, an event that brought together 64 health leaders from 11 countries to explore opportunities to scale digital health solutions in Africa.
Co-sponsored by The Global Fund, the summit aimed to address the challenges and opportunities of integrating technology into Africa’s health systems. The discussions centered on critical themes such as interoperability, governance, infrastructure, and workforce capacity, all essential components of building successful digital health programs.
Bringing Diverse Perspectives Together
A key goal of the summit was to bring together diverse stakeholders from around the world to share and learn from one another.
The CommCare Government Summit attendees included Ministry of Health representatives from various countries that are using CommCare at national scale, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Senegal, South Africa, as well as Côte d’Ivoire and Niger. The summit also included representatives from various funders and iNGOs, including USAID, the Gates Foundation, Management Sciences for Health (MSH), DEDRAS, Food for the Hungry, Living Goods, John Snow International (JSI), Last Mile Health, Malaria Consortium, RTI International, the World Health Organization, Pivot, and Catholic Relief Services.
More than half of the attendees were from Francophone countries, and live translation was provided throughout.
Opening Remarks and Keynote Address
Ethiopia’s State Minister of Health, Dr. Ayele Teshome, delivered the keynote address, sharing inspiring insights from the country’s digital health transformation, particularly the success of their eCHIS (electronic Community Health Information) system, which serves over 25 million people. The eCHIS platform is a beacon of progress in Africa’s digital health journey, and Dr. Teshome outlined the country’s efforts to expand this system to reach even more citizens in the coming years.
Three Days of Collaboration, Innovation, and Impact
Over three days, delegates participated in a range of engaging activities, including:
Presentations and panels: Representatives from various countries shared real-world examples of how digital tools are transforming healthcare delivery in their regions, all while having an opportunity to ask each other questions and learn from each other.
Live demos: Participants showcased how their countries use CommCare to strengthen their healthcare workforce. Demos showed how eCHIS systems can leverage biometrics, support low literacy workers, and integrate with campaign activities.
Interactive booths: A hands-on “show and tell” experience, allowing attendees to see how CommCare is being implemented across different use cases and countries.
Emerging tech tour: Featuring AI trends and the potential of AI for equitable outcomes, and how service delivery can scale beyond first priority interventions through solutions like CommCare Connect that enable FLWs to opt in to additional work and get paid for it.
Looking Forward
One of the most rewarding aspects of the CommCare Government Summit was the opportunity for cross-country collaboration. Delegates were eager to share their experiences and ideas, with many expressing excitement about applying lessons learned from other countries to their own digital health programs. Whether it was addressing the data sovereignty in Madagascar or effective server synchronization issues in Guinea, there was a shared sense of purpose and enthusiasm for advancing digital health solutions.
Feedback gathered in polls revealed that participants enjoyed learning about capabilities in CommCare such as biometrics, analytics and dashboards, microplanning and workflows accessible to low-literacy users.
We are grateful for the opportunity to host our inaugural CommCare Government Summit and for the immense value our government partners found in it. In particular, we’d like to thank the Global Fund for co-sponsoring the event.
The CommCare Government Summit reinforced the vital role of sustainable partnerships and technology in equitable healthcare access. We look forward to deepening our collaboration through our sustainable impact delivery approach, delivering results today while building a foundation for future success.
