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Global Perspectives on Digital Health - Policy insights from the Rwanda Ministry of Health and FIND

Policy insights from the Rwanda Ministry of Health and FIND

12/19/24 • 55 min

Global Perspectives on Digital Health

🎙️ New Episode: Connecting Global & Local Perspectives in Digital Health Implementation

In this special episode, we close out the year with two fantastic guests: Rigveda Kadam, Digital and AI Lead at FIND, and Andrew Muhire, Chief Digital Officer at Rwanda's Ministry of Health.

Building on the innovator insights in Rwanda from our previous episode with Dr. Jana Alagarajah, this discussion dives into the critical connection between product development partners and ministries of health to create conditions for successful digital health implementation.

From Rwanda’s patient-centered approach to FIND’s global perspective across LMICs, we explore:
✔️ How Rwanda balances top-down mandates with frontline adoption to foster trust.
✔️ Tackling antimicrobial resistance with clinician decision support as a case study.
✔️ Using systems thinking to measure success in evolving interventions—Andrew’s "contribution lines" approach is a must-hear!
✔️ Rigveda’s wishlist for the ecosystem: from WHO priority areas to better alignment on patient journeys.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation on infrastructure, policy, and trust—key elements for making impactful digital health innovations stick.

FIND: https://www.finddx.org/
Some resources mentioned:

  1. Rwanda MoH 7 priorities: https://newmoh.staging.risa.rw/1/strategic-plans-priorities
  2. The value of diagnostic imaging for enhancing primary care in low- and middle-income countries: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00478-4/fulltext
  3. ASSESSMENT OF DIAGNOSTIC GAPS AND RELEVANT DIGITAL HEALTH SOLUTIONS SUMMARY FINDINGS FROM PERU, INDIA, NIGERIA AND UGANDA: https://www.finddx.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20201515_rep_assessment_dx_digital_health_FV_EN.pdf
  4. Principles for Digital Development: https://digitalprinciples.org/
  5. Overview of the validation platform: AI validation platform

About the guests:
Riveda Kadam: Experienced global health strategist with expertise in digital health, AI, and public health programs, driving impactful innovations and policy alignment.
Andrew Muhire : Chief Digital Officer at the Rwanda Ministry of Health

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🎙️ New Episode: Connecting Global & Local Perspectives in Digital Health Implementation

In this special episode, we close out the year with two fantastic guests: Rigveda Kadam, Digital and AI Lead at FIND, and Andrew Muhire, Chief Digital Officer at Rwanda's Ministry of Health.

Building on the innovator insights in Rwanda from our previous episode with Dr. Jana Alagarajah, this discussion dives into the critical connection between product development partners and ministries of health to create conditions for successful digital health implementation.

From Rwanda’s patient-centered approach to FIND’s global perspective across LMICs, we explore:
✔️ How Rwanda balances top-down mandates with frontline adoption to foster trust.
✔️ Tackling antimicrobial resistance with clinician decision support as a case study.
✔️ Using systems thinking to measure success in evolving interventions—Andrew’s "contribution lines" approach is a must-hear!
✔️ Rigveda’s wishlist for the ecosystem: from WHO priority areas to better alignment on patient journeys.

Tune in for an inspiring conversation on infrastructure, policy, and trust—key elements for making impactful digital health innovations stick.

FIND: https://www.finddx.org/
Some resources mentioned:

  1. Rwanda MoH 7 priorities: https://newmoh.staging.risa.rw/1/strategic-plans-priorities
  2. The value of diagnostic imaging for enhancing primary care in low- and middle-income countries: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00478-4/fulltext
  3. ASSESSMENT OF DIAGNOSTIC GAPS AND RELEVANT DIGITAL HEALTH SOLUTIONS SUMMARY FINDINGS FROM PERU, INDIA, NIGERIA AND UGANDA: https://www.finddx.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20201515_rep_assessment_dx_digital_health_FV_EN.pdf
  4. Principles for Digital Development: https://digitalprinciples.org/
  5. Overview of the validation platform: AI validation platform

About the guests:
Riveda Kadam: Experienced global health strategist with expertise in digital health, AI, and public health programs, driving impactful innovations and policy alignment.
Andrew Muhire : Chief Digital Officer at the Rwanda Ministry of Health

Previous Episode

undefined - Co-designing mental health solutions with young people in Rwanda

Co-designing mental health solutions with young people in Rwanda

Implementing a digital mental health solution in Rwanda.
What does real, meaningful co-design look like?
What does it mean to truly engage with a community to develop a solution they actually use and that addresses their problems?
What incentives and mindsets allow us to, instead of 'driving' a certain technology into a context, stop and listen, and go in with no pre-conceived notion of what would be built?
How do we get procurement and policy to really value and elevate equitable solutions?

These are some of the great questions we covered in the latest podcast episode with Dr Jana Alagarajah. His wide experience, and work implementing a digital mental health tool with young people in Rwanda gives us some great talking points. Jana shares what he learned working with people and community leaders, as well as carers, and how they approached co-design and evaluation.

We also talked about his insights from working in partnership with UNICEF, USAID, the King's Fund and Health Foundation.

Dr Jana Alagarajah (MD MPH): Digital mental health specialist, UK-trained public health doctor, and psychiatrist co-designing equitable and impactful digital health innovation in Africa with young people as Technical Lead at YLabs. Partnering with UNICEF, USAID, and Gates Foundation, he leverages digital tools to strengthen health systems.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janaganalagarajah/

YLabs: https://www.ylabsglobal.org/
Grand Challenges Canada: https://www.grandchallenges.ca/

Key Resources:

Next Episode

undefined - Making ethics actionable in digital health

Making ethics actionable in digital health

Making Ethics Actionable.

What can the UK’s AI Action plan reveal about the state of ethics in the digital health industry?

If you are a health system leader or government entity, how do you elevate ethical approaches in your ecosystem? What levers are available?

And for the builders: product leaders, founders, clinicians at health tech companies, software engineers, designers, QA folk: how to negotiate and advocate for ethical approaches against business realities in the current climate?

We cover all of this, as well as Jess’ super hot takes on the UK govt AI action plan, Ethics 101 for vendors, researchers and policy folk, AND what leaders in LMIC settings can take away from all of this.

Jess Morley of the Digital Ethics Center at Yale also previously worked with NHSX and also on the Goldacre review in 2022. She has deep expertise on ethics and policy and some really unique insights.

Links to stuff we discussed

UK Govt AI opportunities action plan

Jess' linkedin article with commentary on the action plan

Goldacre review

Jess' Google Scholar

Yale Digital Ethics Center

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