Rinchi
TechInAfrica – The Healthcare Innovation Summit Africa 2018 was held at the Gallagher Convention Centre on October 17, 2018. It was its 4th year of successful running.
At its annual event’s celebration, attendants from healthcare and technology actors gather around for two days to conduct intellectual exchange as well as exploration to discuss what they can do for the future of healthcare sector in Africa.
This year’s HISA’ theme was “Paving the road to Sustainable Smart Healthcare”, uncovering trends in emerging technology in healthcare, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and wearables, electronic health records, medical practice management solutions, healthcare data security and privacy, telemedicine, predictive analytics, and many more technology trends. Additionally, the annual meeting also discussed the impact of mentioned technologies on the healthcare sector.
As one of the keynote speakers, Monstheng Tsiu from the Free State MEC of Health pointed out the importance of incorporating technology in the sector of health. Tsiu stated: “Innovations in the healthcare sector are a must, informed by the challenges faced about in an attempt to create a health system that is responsive to the needs of the country and its people. It is noticeable and impressive effort taken by the organizers of this summit happening in Africa for the fourth time in a row, the angle that you took in transforming the industry in both private and public sector under one roof must be applauded, she added.”
“This summit is paving the road to sustainable smart healthcare, it brings about hope to Africa. We can see that the public and private sector have found each other in seeking common innovative means to tackle the healthcare challenges”, added Tsiu.
As the host of the conference, a medical doctor, Dr. Michael Mol gave his insight on a telemedicine in South Africa. He highlighted the importance and need of telecommunications as the main tool of healthcare services and knowledge of the usage in the medical sphere.
The Director of IM & T and CIO of Royal Papworth Hospital, Andre Raynes also delivered his keynote speech at the conference. He said, “Digital transformation is a must-do for every organization wanting to take advantage of the many benefits of new technology to provide the best patient care. Technology plays a vital role in ensuring that health professionals have quick access to the information they need to make decisions, helping them to provide the right care to patients at the right time and in the right place.”
