The Lagos State Government has unveiled plans to leverage digital health, artificial intelligence (AI), data and strategic partnerships to transform healthcare delivery and position the state as a hub for medical innovation and the emerging bioeconomy in Africa.
The vision was unveiled at the Eko Health Convention 2026, where health leaders, technology experts, development partners and innovators explored ways of using digital innovation to improve health outcomes.
Delivering the keynote address, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said digital health had moved beyond electronic records and applications, stressing that its real value lay in generating quality data to drive research, precision medicine, innovation and economic growth.
Abayomi said the Lagos Smart Health Information Platform (SHIP), would provide the foundation for connecting patient records, investigations, biological information and other health data, enabling the state to build population intelligence and deploy AI and machine learning to accelerate scientific discovery.
“Data has become king,” he said, noting that digital health was becoming as important as roads, electricity, telecommunications and financial infrastructure.
According to him, Lagos is building the infrastructure and human capital required to move beyond traditional healthcare delivery into prevention, precision medicine, regenerative medicine and healthy longevity.
He added that the transformation would create new categories of professionals, including data scientists, computational experts and biomedical researchers.
The commissioner said the vision was being complemented by major projects, including the proposed University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Lagos State Medical, Industrial and Innovation Zone (LASMIIZO) in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, SHIP and the Lagos BioShield initiative.
He said LASMIIZO would combine medical manufacturing, research and development and healthcare innovation, while the BioShield initiative would strengthen the state’s preparedness for future infectious disease threats.
“For Lagos, we do not want to be left behind. We want to participate in the advancement of science and embrace digital technologies,” Abayomi said.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Kemi Ogunyemi, said the urgency of digital transformation was driven by Lagos’ growing population and increasing pressure on hospitals, primary healthcare centres and emergency services.
She recalled that the Ebola outbreak and COVID-19 pandemic exposed the consequences of disconnected health information, with patients sometimes moving across the state without their medical histories.
Ogunyemi said digital transformation must ultimately focus on people rather than gadgets, noting that SHIP would move Lagos from siloed facility records to a centralised health information repository capable of supporting trend analysis, AI, surveillance and better resource management.
Ogunyemi identified four priorities for the next phase of Lagos’ health reforms as the completion of flagship projects, deeper digital transformation through AI and surveillance, universal health coverage, and investment in people and strategic partnerships.
“Government cannot do it alone,” she stressed, calling for greater collaboration among the private sector, technology innovators, clinicians, communities and development partners.
Speaking on powering the digital health ecosystem, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology, Mr. Adeyinka Shorungbe, said the state needs to connect primary, secondary, tertiary and private health facilities so that patients could access their medical records regardless of where they sought care.
“Information exchange is at the heart of an effective healthcare system,” Shorungbe said.
He urged healthcare professionals to become active participants in technology development by identifying challenges and working with innovators to create solutions.
At a panel session on building sustainable partnerships beyond donor grants, stakeholders stressed that long-term health gains required government ownership, community participation and co-financing.
Reflecting on the convention, the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Blood Transfusion Service, Dr. Bodunrin Osikomaiya, said Eko Health Convention 2026 had moved the conversation from innovation to integration, with digital health and partnerships emerging as critical pillars of the state’s next phase of transformation.
