Building Africa’s Frontline Readiness

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has tested healthcare systems around the world, exposing vulnerabilities, challenging policies, and altering the future course of healthcare provision on the continent. The deployment of technological solutions and services in the healthcare sector has long been on the rise, but the sustainability and effectiveness of these healthtech solutions have often been limited by local legislative, regulatory, institutional, and operating conditions.

The African Law & Tech Network set out to explore existing challenges and opportunities impacting healthtech services and solutions within the African context by bringing together individuals from across the spectrum of healthtech and digital health to identify shared systemic challenges unique to Africa, and discuss what is necessary to overcome these barriers to growth.

Participants included representatives from the healthcare sector, digital health start-ups, academia, donor-sponsored programmes, policy development, investment, and the legal profession. This policy brief aims to contextualize the role of technology in Africa’s healthcare systems and highlight what is required to support greater access and facilitate innovation.

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