Telecommunication company, 9Mobile, and telemedicine company, Mobihealth International are partnering with the Emir of Bichi, Alhaji Nasir Ado Bayero, on his initiative, the Digital Bichi Emirate Education and Health Initiative.
According to a report from the Bichi Emirate, the initiative was launched on August 19, on the coronation day of Alhaji Nasir Ado Bayero as the second Emir of the Bichi Emirate.
The report stated that the initiative is to complement the efforts of the Kano State government and the nine local government administrations that consist of the Bichi Emirate in the knowledge of healthcare delivery, knowledge and digital skills awareness, and to promote self-employment opportunities for youths, using digital technologies and ICT.
The Advance Digital Opportunities Foundation is the project implementation partner for the Digital Bichi Emirate Initiative in Education.
Also, the Bichi Emirate Digital Education and Entrepreneurship programme is sponsored by 9Mobile, and it is designed to empower one thousand youths from the emirate with digital literacy and skills for employment.
The graduation of the first set of students under the Digital Education and Entrepreneurship Initiative took place on 19 August 2021.
“The second phase of the 12-week programme is currently being launched simultaneously at five centres located at Bichi (two centres), Dambatta, Dawakin Tofa, and Ganduje,” the report said. “Each centre will train a total of two hundred youths in four cohorts.”
On the healthcare programme, the Digital Bichi Emirate Initiative partners with Mobihealth International to provide video conferencing, 24-hour access to medical personnel and diagnosis, and consultation and general health management.
Representative of the Emirate, Alhaji Abubakar, noted that Digital Bichi Emirate Initiative has concluded arrangements to provide modular telemedicine centres in all the nine local governments of the Bichi Emirate in partnership with Mobihealth.
“The first live and functioning Digital Bichi Emirate telehealth portal will be formally commissioned in a short while, on the premises of Emir of Bichi’s Palace,” Abubakar said.
“Such centres will provide practising medical personnel in the Emirate, be they doctors, nurses, consultants and researchers, a veritable platform to seek and share information.”
The founder of Mobihealth, Dr Funmi Adeawra, stated that Mobihealth’s innovative and integrated telehealth clinic solutions for rural areas are deployed through modular cabins, mobile vans or by simply using an existing facility to boost access to healthcare for the poor.
“This means that anyone in a rural, underserved community like Bichi can now have access to a wider range of healthcare providers and medical care, quality medication and diagnostics through the technological solutions we have deployed, including point-of-care diagnostics that allows a more robust, remote patient monitoring and evaluation,” Adewara said.
She further stated that patients can consult on the Bichi Emirate telehealth portal in local languages with their care providers who are miles away, thereby mitigating the distance barriers and shortage of healthcare workers.
“Partnering with Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation and 9Mobile will help us to reach a wider population,” she said.
“Kano State government has been very supportive of this initiative of the Emir of Bichi, and telehealth will be integrated into Kano State insurance scheme so it can reach everyone.”
She noted that this is a model that is going to be sustainable and should be emulated by other traditional rulers, adding that research shows that, due to cultural factors, 70 per cent of northerners feel comfortable using telemedicine as opposed to traditional hospital visits and that over 60 per cent of medical issues can be resolved through telemedicine.
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