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
At the inaugural CommCare Government Summit, we heard a clear message: governments are committed to strengthening community health systems but face mounting pressure to do so with fewer resources. With funding under strain, sustainability is no longer optional. That’s why we’ve drawn on 20 years of innovation in CommCare to launch our next-generation national eCHIS that’s 10x more affordable for governments. It’s our commitment to helping partners deliver resilient, scalable digital health systems that endure.
