Mama Grace Onyango Foundation for Digital Health in Africa has been launched in Kisumu.
It was opened by African medical professionals and researchers and one of its aims is to improve healthcare.
The foundation intends to promote healthy living to people of all ages across Africa and globally.
It was set up in honour of Mama Grace Onyango, Kenya's first woman mayor and first woman MP.
Rebecca Kadaga, First Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda, and Kisumu Deputy Governor Mathews Owili presided over the launch at Mama Grace Onyango Social Hall in Kisumu on Monday.
They praised the initiative, saying it will boost healthcare provision in the region.
The launch took place during the conference on digital platforms in health management.
The two-day event attracted guests from the World Bank and the World Health Organisation as well as scientists and researchers from across the world.
The mission of the foundation is to have African professionals lead digital health innovations on the continent.
Kadaga said if well harnessed, the power of digital technologies and health innovation solutions will promote good health for all.
Owili said digital health will change the face of healthcare in the region as it has in the developed world.
“It can make distance and remoteness obsolete, it can stretch public health budgets and it can make scarce, specialist resources available over the internet,” he said.
He said the system can use mobile phones as primary devices in many cases, granting access to health services, and accelerating universal access to decent health services on the continent.
Owili said the Kisumu administration has embraced the promises of digital health and health management is already digitised.
“We need to collaborate with NGOs, the business sector, with global partners, with universities and research institutions, and with other African countries,” he said.
Mama Onyango said the foundation will help to improve the healthcare system.
She urged Kenyans to eat plenty of vegetables and fresh fruits, and balanced diets.
“Our bodies need nutrients to build up and repair tissues,” she said.
Onyango called for robust digital healthcare in the country and Africa, saying health provision should be given priority by the government.
“Digital technologies are now integral to daily life. Innovation, particularly in the digital sphere, is happening at an unprecedented scale,” she said.
Onyango said to deliver its potential then the national and regional digital health initiatives must be guided by a robust strategy that integrates financial, organisational, human and technological resources.
“We welcome this new digital health solution agenda. I believe its biggest strength is in how it can empower the partnership through proper funding and improvements,” she said.
“The only way to reach the connected, accessible, safe and high-quality digital health future we want is to take part in building it.”
Onyango was the first Kenyan woman mayor, elected in Kisumu in 1965.
She was the first woman to be elected MP, for Kisumu Town in 1969 and served until 1983.
She was also the first woman secretary general of Luo Union (East Africa) and the first woman councillor of Kaloleni ward in Kisumu.
The teacher-turned-politician was the first woman assistant commissioner of the Girl Guides Association and chairperson of the Child Welfare Society, Kisumu district.
Great Lakes University vice chancellor Prof Hazel Mumbo, a public health specialist, said research and innovation are the way to go for a developing country such as Kenya.
She said using digital platforms in various forms was important moving forward.
Health workers were trained how to use digital technology in the diagnosis of patients and the management of health systems.
Mumbo said the Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected many universities across the world.
“It is now that they are slowly coming out of the problem. This requires proper funding and structures to be put in place,” she added.
The conference also focused on the importance of homegrown digital health tech innovation in Africa, roles of universities, research institutions, start-ups, governments, incubators, investors, digital network providers, regulators and big health.
The participants deliberated on connecting investors and incubators to African start-ups in digital health and creating a Kisumu digital health start-up hub
The event ushered in a number of thought leaders in the digital health space as well as iconic women across the globe who spoke on women leadership.
Edited by Josephine M. Mayuya
