CIMAS health group has partnered the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) to leverage on innovation and technology to address healthcare challenges in Zimbabwe.
Young innovators from HIT presented their ideas for improving healthcare services, covering areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for cost reduction and accessibility during a Healthathon’24 event held over the weekend.
Cimas group chief information officer Foster Akaketwa said the organisation was embracing technology to address some challenges in the healthcare sector.
“With the Healthathon’24, we aim to implement feasible technological solutions, such as AI, which will be scalable to accommodate everyone, to enhance the quality and accessibility of healthcare services for all Zimbabweans and transform people’s lives, regardless of their income level,” Akaketwa said.
“As an organisation, we want to ensure that we achieve the best outcomes from the healthcare services that we provide and we will use technologies such as AI and other technologies which are feasible to implement in our region.”
Information Communication Technology minister Tatenda Mavetera, in a speech read on her behalf by permanent-secretary in the ministry Beaulah Chirume, emphasised the use of digital technologies.
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“We must use digital technologies and the infrastructure that the government put in place to improve service delivery for better healthcare services. We need solutions that are relevant to our own context to solve the healthcare challenges we are facing,” she said.
“We will continue to foster collaboration with various stakeholders such as Cimas and young innovators who are the future of our nation, to come up with policies that regulate data privacy and online safety in the wake of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet.”
The Healthathon’24 was sponsored by Cimas.
The winning team, EpiApp, received prize money of US$1 500 to further develop its innovative healthcare solutions.