Abuja, Oct. 22, 2026 (NAN) Sen. Ireti Kingibe has called for sustainable domestic financing and stronger legislative intervention to address healthcare deficits in Nigeria and other African countries.
Kingibe made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the 2026 Gatefield Health Summit.
She emphasised the need to move successful healthcare innovations beyond the prototype stage to large-scale implementation.
The senator urged stakeholders to bridge the gap between innovation and implementation by mobilising domestic capital, technical expertise and legislative support to strengthen health systems and reduce dependence on donor funding.
“Let us commit to breaking down the silos between innovation and implementation. Let us direct our capital, our technical expertise and our legislative will towards rigorous, measurable scaling of what works,” she said.
Kingibe said effective collaboration among policymakers, healthcare professionals and innovators was necessary to expand access to quality healthcare and enable more Africans to live longer, healthier and more productive lives.
The call came as stakeholders at the summit highlighted the potential of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve healthcare delivery, disease surveillance and health financing across Africa.
Shina Arogundade, Co-founder of MyItura, a digital healthcare provider, said AI-enabled platforms and data-driven solutions could help public health authorities analyse trends, predict disease outbreaks and anticipate climate-related health challenges.
He, however, emphasised the need to validate the technologies and integrate them into national public health systems while ensuring compliance with ethical standards.
Arogundade also called for deliberate frameworks on AI governance and intellectual property to ensure technological innovations reached underserved and marginalised communities.
“Healthcare is mostly run by the public sector, so government engagement is necessary to scale AI in the health sector,” he said.
The stakeholders said that technology could help address healthcare challenges, including shortages of medical personnel and limited access to essential services, particularly in underserved communities.
They said innovative solutions could support medical practitioners and strengthen health systems while efforts to train more doctors continued.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the summit, convened by Gatefield, brought together policymakers, health professionals and other stakeholders to discuss strategies for building resilient, equitable and locally driven healthcare systems across Africa.
It focused on promoting partnerships and policy solutions to improve healthcare delivery and ensure sustainable health financing.(NAN)
