The Federal Government has unveiled plans to strengthen patient data protection and accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in Nigeria’s healthcare system, with a focus on improving medical services and expanding access to quality care in rural and underserved communities.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said the government was working towards a digitally enabled health system that would improve medical diagnosis, strengthen disease surveillance, support clinical decisions and enhance accountability across the health sector.
Salako spoke on Tuesday at the AI in Health Summit 2026, held at the T.Y. Danjuma Centre in Abuja, where he called for stronger collaboration among government agencies, healthcare professionals, technology companies, researchers and development partners to advance AI-driven healthcare.
He said the government had established policy frameworks to support the country’s digital health transformation, including the Nigeria Digital Health Strategy 2021–2025, the Nigeria Digital-in-Health Initiative and the National Digital Health Architecture, endorsed by the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
According to him, the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, launched in September 2025, also recognises healthcare as a priority area for AI adoption.
“These instruments collectively articulate a clear vision: a digitally enabled health system where technology supports better decision-making, improves service delivery, strengthens accountability, promotes stewardship and expands access to care for all citizens,” he said.
The minister noted that AI offered opportunities to improve medical diagnosis, clinical decision support, disease surveillance, supply chain management and health financing.
He said the technology could also help extend quality healthcare to communities that have traditionally struggled to access medical services.
Salako highlighted the role of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, operating under the National Information Technology Development Agency, in advancing AI applications in the country.
He also cited the Nigeria Atlas for Languages and AI at Scale (N-ATLAS), which he described as Nigeria’s first open-source, multilingual and multimodal large language model trained on local language data.
According to him, such initiatives could make AI-powered health information and services more accessible to Nigerians across different linguistic and literacy backgrounds.
However, Salako acknowledged that inadequate electricity, poor broadband connectivity, fragmented health information systems and a shortage of skilled professionals remained major obstacles to the widespread adoption of digital healthcare technologies.
He said the government was working to improve digital access, particularly in rural and underserved communities, while addressing the fragmentation of health records through the National Digital Health Architecture and a planned Health Information Exchange.
The proposed exchange, he explained, would facilitate the sharing of health information across institutions, helping healthcare professionals and relevant authorities make better-informed decisions.
FG Targets Stronger Patient Data Protection
On data privacy, Salako said the government was working towards developing sector-specific regulations for health data, building on the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.
He said the proposed rules would address the secondary use of clinical data for public health purposes, anonymisation standards and consent frameworks.
The minister stressed that ethical standards, transparency, accountability and patient privacy must remain central to the deployment of AI in healthcare.
“Citizens must have confidence that emerging technologies are being deployed responsibly and in the public interest,” he said.
He warned that public confidence could be undermined if sensitive medical information was mishandled or digital health tools were deployed without adequate safeguards.
Salako said Nigeria’s challenge was no longer simply determining whether AI could transform healthcare, but finding ways to scale successful pilot projects into sustainable systems that deliver measurable improvements in patient care.
He called for sustained investment in digital infrastructure, reliable data systems, interoperability standards, cybersecurity safeguards and workforce development.
The minister also urged stronger public-private partnerships, noting that government alone could not provide all the resources and technical expertise required to deploy AI solutions on a large scale.
He called on development partners to align their support with national priorities and invest in sustainable infrastructure, while urging technology innovators to develop solutions that address Nigeria’s specific healthcare needs.
Healthcare professionals, he said, must participate actively in designing and implementing digital tools, while universities and research institutions should generate evidence to guide policy and practice.
Salako further advocated the integration of AI competencies into medical and other health professional curricula to prepare the workforce for emerging technologies.
He also stressed the need to train and retain Nigerian AI professionals, warning against a situation in which the country depends excessively on external expertise to develop and maintain critical digital health systems.
The minister insisted that the benefits of AI must not be restricted to urban centres and wealthier communities.
“As we deploy AI tools across the health system, we must ensure that rural and underserved populations benefit alongside urban communities. Technology must close gaps, not widen them,” he said.
Salako urged participants at the summit, convened by the Africa Hub for Innovation and Development, to translate discussions into practical actions that would strengthen digital healthcare delivery.
He said effective regulation, strategic investment, local capacity development and sustained political commitment could help Nigeria and other African countries harness AI to deliver more accessible, efficient and patient-centred healthcare.
The minister urged stakeholders to make the summit a platform for practical collaboration, stressing that the ultimate measure of success would be improved health outcomes and better access to quality medical services for Nigerians.
