By Iroyin Yoruba Television
ABUJA, NIGERIA — Health technology experts have called for a unified national framework to guide the development and deployment of artificial intelligence across Nigeria’s healthcare system, saying clearer standards could help turn local innovations into practical medical solutions.
The call was made during a national health technology summit in Abuja focused on innovation and the use of artificial intelligence to improve healthcare delivery.
Kunle Kakanfo, Managing Director of the Africa Hub for Innovation and Development, said Nigeria needed standardised methods for evaluating AI-powered healthcare tools before they could be adopted on a wider scale.
He explained that consistent assessment standards would help researchers, technology developers, regulators and healthcare providers determine whether emerging tools were sufficiently reliable and suitable for practical use.
The proposed framework would support the evaluation of new technologies, strengthen collaboration between research institutions and healthcare organisations, and provide clearer pathways for moving promising innovations from the development stage into clinical practice.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly being explored for medical imaging, clinical decision support, health data analysis and administrative tasks. Properly evaluated tools could help healthcare professionals process information more efficiently and support decisions about patient care.
However, introducing AI into healthcare also raises important questions about patient safety, data protection, accuracy, accountability and regulatory oversight. Systems that perform well during early testing may still require further evaluation before they can be relied upon in hospitals and other clinical settings.
Kakanfo also highlighted the importance of partnerships with universities, international research organisations, regulatory agencies and development partners. Such cooperation, he said, could strengthen local technical expertise and generate evidence needed to assess emerging medical technologies.
A coordinated national approach could also help Nigerian innovators understand the standards they must meet when seeking approval for clinical use. This could reduce uncertainty during development while ensuring that patient safety remains central to adoption decisions.
Nevertheless, establishing a framework alone would not guarantee widespread implementation. Sustainable funding, appropriate infrastructure, trained personnel and access to reliable health data would also be important for integrating AI into medical services.
The proposal comes as Nigerian researchers and technology developers seek greater support to bring homegrown innovations into practical use. A clear and credible evaluation process could help health institutions identify technologies that offer genuine benefits while limiting the risks associated with untested systems.
The experts are calling for a coordinated national framework to evaluate healthcare AI tools, support local innovation and ensure that new technologies meet appropriate standards before wider clinical adoption.