OPEN DATA TO

IMPROVE HEALTH
CARE DELIVERY IN
RURAL AREAS OF
AFRICA: CASE STUDY
OF NIGERIA.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL PRESENTATION

INTRODUCTION
Open data as defined by The International Open Data Charter (ODC) is a publicly available
information which can be accessed easily, used and distributed universally without any charge or cost
(Van- Belle et al., 2018).

Worldwide, the principles of democracy is revolving around accountability and transparency. Open
Data helps to ensure this. In developed countries of the world like USA, UK, etc., open data is widely
used to provide an interactive platform for people in these countries (Ezema, 2023).
Introduction contd.
In Africa, countries like Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria have shown interest in the
use of open data for health care services.
In Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is the agency responsible for
the collection of data for the country. However, in recent times, there have been
various private agencies involved in data collection. An example is the
"eHealth4everyone" Initiative located in Abuja and Lagos State.
Nigeria is interested in growing open data, however, there is still a lot to do in
terms of policy framework (Ezema, 2019).
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Our study seeks to address the following research questions:

1. What are the challenges facing open data in Nigeria health care systems?

2. How can open data help healthcare services and delivery in Nigeria?

3. What are the ways open data can be used to improve healthcare delivery in Nigeria?
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To identify challenges facing open data usage in providing health care services and delivery in
Nigeria.
2. To propose solutions to some of these challenges facing the usage of open data.

3. To identify set of data that can be made open in order to help in health care delivery improvement.

4. To discuss ways in which open data can be implemented in order to improve health care services.
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
Nigeria is facing critical moments in her healthcare services. The United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) 2022 Report stated that the health of poor Nigerians (many of whom live in rural areas) is
deteriorating. More so, the World Malaria Report 2022 stated that Nigeria records the highest malaria
related-death rate globally, and majority of this happens in the rural areas.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2013 Report, information and knowledge is one of the
basic ingredients to help healthcare delivery in Nigeria. Unfortunately, years after, some vital information
which could be needed by her citizens in order to access health care services and delivery is yet to be fully
developed, as there have been lots of challenges facing open data in Nigeria (Van-Bella et al. 2018).

Open data has been noted to encourage government participation, improvement of government services,
fight against corruption as people can easily track information, etc. (OKF, 201). These would help
checkmate the quality of health care services especially in rural areas of Nigeria.
METHODOLOGY
The research design to be used for this study is a non-experimental exploratory study. This is
because this study is not concerned with cause-effect relationships, rather this design is
concerned with understanding the current state of things and what could be gotten or synthesized
from it.

Hence, the data for this study would be gotten from document searches, trial studies, surveys, etc.
CONCLUSION
This study examines the use of open data in improving health care services and
delivery in rural areas of Nigeria. The research methodology adopted would be
an exploratory study and it would provide insights to the challenges facing open
data usage in Nigeria, propose solutions to these challenges and ways in which
open data can be used and its effects on improving the quality of health care
service delivery especially in rural areas of the country.
REFERENCES

Ezema, Ifeanyi J. (2019). Management of open government data in Nigeria academic libraries: status,
challenges as strategies, IFLA WLIC, 1-9.

Ezema, Ifeanyi J. (2023). Availability and access to open government data in Nigeria: a content
analysis of government websites and Nigerian data portal, International Information & Library
Review, 55(1), 15-28.

Van-Belle, Lämmerhirt D.; Iglesias, C; Mungai, P; Nuhu, H; Hlabano, M; Nesh-Nash, T; &

Chaudhary, S (2018). The status and emerging impact of open data in Africa, African Data Revolution
Report, 2018.