Creation of the National Digital Health Center

BACKGROUND

In 2021, Togo’s minister of Health and Public Hygiene asked the Foundation to help it draw up and roll out a national eHealth strategy. The creation of a “National Digital Health Center” marks an essential step forward in the drive to provide a coherent, sustainable development framework.

In Togo, the Fondation Pierre Fabre already lends its support to a program that treats people with albinism and contributes to the “TéléderTogo” project. Since 2021, it has been assisting the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene with the creation of an eHealth reference center: the National Digital Health Center (CNSD). Like other countries in this part of Africa, Togo has a high rate of infectious diseases and the majority of its healthcare resources are concentrated in urban areas.

Devising a national digital health strategy is based on recognizing the huge potential of digital technology applied to health, especially since the 2020 health crisis, and on a political decision to work toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.

Structuring and supporting eHealth actions in the long term, at national level

The creation of the CNSD is an important step toward setting up an eHealth governance structure with a solid national development plan.

Two initial deployment areas: dermatology and healthcare for mothers and babies

The work undertaken as part of this collaborative initiative targets two medical disciplines:

• Ongoing support for the Téléder Togo teledermatology project (link), which was extended in 2021 and is now running at full capacity;
• Development of a project focusing on healthcare for mothers and babies, with the creation of a tele-ultrasound service, set up with the support of the Foundation. Pregnant women will be offered access to an ultrasound examination for prenatal care and treatment of obstetric emergencies in 10 health centers across the country.

An assessment phase has also been scheduled by the partners, with the goal of analyzing the concrete impact of the activities on the health of target populations, and putting together models that can be replicated in other countries in the African sub-region.