By Doris Obinna
Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) in collaboration with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Federal Government by funding the building of a Nigeria COVID-19 incidence and resource tracker, dashboard and predictive analytic platform (Systems Platform) to assist the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
The organisers said the Systems Platform solution is expected to provide a robust, up-to-date database of Federal and Sub-National resource and availability requirements for the COVID-19 response, based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended resource specificationss on packages for COVID-19.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NESG, Laoye Jaiyeola, said: “Once deployed, the Systems Platform will provide a National and sub-National Inventory Management System that gives national visibility of what is procured, in-stock and out-of-stock across the Federal and State testing, treatment and isolation Centres.
“The real-time data provided will enable government, the private sector, international organisations and other donors to mobilise more effectively in providing the critical human and material resources needed to support the country’s response to the pandemic.”
On May 19, 2020, according to the organisers, the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, which is constituted by heads of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and other ministries, departments and agencies of government endorsed the partnership between AIG and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group for the development of the Systems Platform. “The Systems Platform is equally deployed in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.”
Director of AIG, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede explained that beyond improving the transparency, accountability and governance of national resources co-sourced from public, private and development sectors towards the COVID-19 response, the Predictive Analytic Model embedded in the Platform will enable the PTF on COVID-19, and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) predict and project the rate of infections, deaths and consequent resource requirements. “This is key for the future of Nigeria’s COVID-19 response:
“The Systems Platform is expected to improve the national and state health information management system by adding the Platform’s capabilities seamlessly to the country’s existing data ecosystem.
“The overarching objective is to help in galvanizing efforts at efficiently plugging nationwide resource gaps across the three priority areas of testing, treatment and isolation and contact tracing and tracking in the context of COVID-19.”