Funding E-Health in Nigeria by NGOS/Multinational Organization: Overview and Perspectives

Abstract

Electronic-Health infrastructure tends to improve the quality of healthcare service delivery through timely access to information electronically with the aid of internet. Mmillions of people in the developed world use internet as a source of healthcare information to improve their lives. Despite the benefits of e-health infrastructure, people living in developing countries lack access to timely information and poor e-healthcare services. Foreign Ngo's and Multinational institutions (e g. world health organization) have been involved in the funding of e-health projects in some developing countries such as India, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and Ethopia e t c. In the case of Nigeria, these same organizations hardly fund or support the implementation of e-health project. The factors preventing foreign NGOs and Multinational institutions from funding e-health projects in Nigeria were investigated. Data was obtained by conducting Semi-structured interview on prospective individuals of interest and from related academic journal papers. Individuals interviewed include, officials of World Health Organization (WHO), International Monetery Fund (IMF) and Swedish Support ICT Programs in Developing countries (SPIDER). Findings shows that lack of cooperation among healthcare stakeholders, political will and cultural barriers are some of the major factors preventing these Organizations from funding e-health projects. Recommendations were put forward in other to attracts these organizations to fund e-health projects in the conutry. Some of these recommendations include educating healthcare stakeholders what e-health is about, embarking on a sensitization program in the local, state and federal level.