As part of activities to mark World AIDs Day 2021, FHI 360 convened a panel of thought leaders, technical experts, and concerned citizens to discuss the topics around the theme: “Self-care and Digital Health: Leveraging Technology to improve access to information and HIV services” on the 2nd of December 2021. Their discussions were centred around technological interventions and client-centric approaches that have been or are currently in place to support individuals in discovering new ways to seek health especially HIV/AIDs services.
The panel was chaired by Dr. Isa Iyortim (Activity Manager for EpiC Activities I, II, and III) with Dr. Hadiza Khamofu (Ag. Country Director) providing introductory framing remarks. A group of experts from within and across organizations pooled their collective expertise in these areas and delivered thoughtful and insightful discussions on various topics ranging from the seven pillars of self-care (Christiana Asala, National Coordinator-White Ribbon Alliance), examples of digital self-care enablers in the HIV Care cascade (Associate Director, Technical (Telehealth), FHI 360) to Health equity and ethical considerations for implementing digital health technologies (Dr. Ihoghosa Iyamu, Research Fellow at School of Population and Public Health (SPPH), University of British Columbia). Other panelists included: Ben Bellows (Chief Business Officer, Nivi Inc.), Abdulkadir Ibrahim, (National Coordinator, Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN)), and Telema Westwood, (Executive Director IT services, UCS Global).
The discussion was rounded out by the Director-General, NACA, Dr. Gambo Gumel Aliyu stressing the importance of asking crucial implementation science questions around this important thematic area and also to consider how we can reach young people with HIV services using digital platforms.
