Let's re-imagine Africa's pulse to fill health divide

The 2026 World Health Summit (WHS) regional meeting in Nairobi concluded with several major resolutions and strategic outcomes. Bringing together leaders and innovators in health care, the gathering explored solutions that strengthen Africa’s health systems and advance global health progress.

Assembled under the theme “Re-imagining Africa’s Health Systems,” the meeting signified a strategic shift toward African health sovereignty by launching the African Health Leadership and Management Committee and establishing a Regional Coordinating Centre in Kenya to bolster emergency response across 14 countries.

But AI and digital health took centre stage. In an interview on the sidelines, Dr Adelheid Onyango, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Africa Director of Health Systems and Services, described a re-imagined health system as one that evolves beyond traditional facility structures to meet modern expectations for quality care.

She advocates a digital transformation that replaces manual records with integrated electronic systems, ensuring a patient's medical information follows them seamlessly from primary clinics to district and tertiary hospitals. Dr Onyango emphasises that while AI is a powerful asset, it must be built upon a foundation of digitised data. 

She argues that while digital tools and mobile technology can narrow health gaps by reaching “difficult to reach” populations, such as linking community health promoters directly to the formal system, this progress is contingent on workforce capacity. She cautions against deploying technology in peripheral areas, where workers lack the necessary know-how to manipulate these tools, as it risks creating “new barriers”.

Consequently, she asserts, building local capacity is essential to ensure these technologies don’t inadvertently widen the divide between urban centers and less favoured, rural communities. By allowing specialists in urban centers or abroad to diagnose and manage patients in remote areas without the need for travel, Dr Onyango singles out the achievements made in the field of telemedicine, saying it “brings closer the service”.

She notes that technology makes it possible to provide health care even where physical infrastructure, like roads are unavailable. Pointing to advancements such as remote surgical support, where specialists can virtually guide clinical officers on the ground through medical procedures, Dr Onyango emphasises the transformative power of technology in health care. Ultimately, she believes these digital connections bridge geographical distances, ensuring that patients receive expert support regardless of their location. 

According to Dr Onyango, a reimagined health system must look beyond “walls and beds” to invest in essential energy infrastructure, particularly solar-powered systems that harness the region's sunshine.

She says “the cold chain” requires constant energy supply to sustain immunisation programmes and keep medical machinery running, noting that providing the “means to run the operating machines” is critical to successfully deploying and maintaining modern medical equipment.

On concerns that technology might replace medical staff, Dr Onyango assures: “These apps are tools, but the essential care comes from that specialist. Technology can facilitate understanding, but the human connection can never be replaced by apps.” She highlights the need for international collaboration, and “digital health compacts” to responsibly “navigate the possibilities without putting in jeopardy the health and well-being of our people.”

However, Dr Onyango reiterates that technology and health systems are now inseparable. She emphasises the need to tap into the creativity of young people in Africa to build “home-made” health solutions, ensuring their intellect is deployed to transform and sustain the continent’s healthcare landscape. 

According to Dr Theophilus Wangata, a general physician, digital health “is narrowing and it’s also widening [… the health care access gap in Africa] at the same time.” He explains that while urban patients benefit from easier access via mobile phone apps, the rural divide grows because “you need a smartphone to be able to reach the facility”, while facing significant hurdles with internet connectivity and device costs.

Overall, the summit marked a transformative turning point, where African-led innovation and political will converged to dismantle long-standing barriers to health care.

-The writer is the African Affairs Editor at China Global Television Network, Nairobi