In October 2020, Dawkin’s Kamara, who goes by Jeff, joined Integrate Health (IH) as the Technical Expert for digital health. Digital health is the convergence of digital technologies with health to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of access to real-time data. As a result, IH has accelerated its digital health work and has supported the Togolese Ministry of Health to do the same. Over the past few months, IH has implemented two new digital health tools,clinical assessment tool co-developed with ThinkMD and OpenSRP, used for data synchronization (you can read more about this in IH’s Data Series, here). As IH continues to expand our digital health strategy and support the Ministry of Health in achieving their digital health objectives, Jeff will serve as a critical link to improving health for all.
Jeff’s responsibilities include building strong relationships with key stakeholders in the Ministry of Health as well as with development partners such as UNICEF and WHO; providing technical support to the Ministry of Health in areas related to digital health and facilitating the extension of Togo’s digital health strategy to strengthen the national community health program.
Before joining the IH team, Jeff spent more than ten years working in project management. He has experience managing digital health and Information and Communications Technology projects for international NGOs and social enterprises across Africa. In those roles, he has helped to find solutions to improve the health of underserved populations via digital health technologies. Prior to working in project management, Jeff spent four years as a software engineer and developer of mobile applications in the private sector.
Jeff believes that not only his skills brought him to IH, but also his dedication to help rural populations access healthcare. For him, “this Coronavirus pandemic has shown the world that the most important thing in people’s lives is health. So IH’s mission to provide access to quality primary healthcare to populations is crucial.” And as a technology enthusiast, he added, “the best part is that IH places special emphasis on the use of new information and communication technologies to improve this care.”
Jeff stays inspired by recalling the outcomes of his previous accomplishments. “I contributed to the scaling up of the digital health project initiated by Save The Children International in Ivory Coast… which aims to reduce neonatal malaria and improve the rate of attendance of pregnant women at health centers”. With his experience in mind, Jeff believes his best achievement is yet to come through his work with IH. He is already seeing the impact that he and the team are having in communities. As he explains, through the use of the new digital health tools and “data synchronization in real time, [we can see] that the attendance rates in the health centers that were initially low increased exponentially, sometimes reaching over 100% attendance”.
Jeff encourages any young developer or those working in digital health to get involved in this promising field and most importantly to believe in themselves. IH is more than honored to have Jeff as part of its team as the organization continues to prove that Universal Health Coverage is achievable in Togo.