Project Outputs

Our partners in Uganda, Afya na Haki, alongside the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders, hosted the National Digital Health Conference 2024 on 20 November 2024. The conference emphasized existing regulatory gaps and highlighted the critical importance of Digital Health Justice, ensuring that digital health initiatives are equitable, fair, inclusive, and respectful of individual rights. Key themes included strengthening advocacy capacities and adopting Africentric approaches to develop locally relevant and context-specific solutions.

Dr. Catherine Bowden from the University of Manchester was invited to the Centre for Global Health Law at the University of Warwick, UK to discuss her research on Data Trusts. The session explored critical questions surrounding health data, such as its ownership, ethical use, and protection from exploitative and commercial misuse.

The project team had the opportunity to meet with the Advisory Board members in Nairobi, Kenya on 9 August 2024. During the meeting, the team shared updates on their progress and sought valuable advice on overcoming challenges encountered in implementing certain initiatives. We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Advisory Board for their continued guidance and support, which has been instrumental in shaping our work thus far.

In partnership with Afya na Haki and the Ministry of Health, the project organised a stakeholder dialogue on the regulation of digital health on 5–6 August 2024. Delegates from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Seychelles, and Zimbabwe shared strategies for effectively governing digital health in East Africa. The dialogue focused on the critical question: How can we optimise digital health governance in the region?

On 25 June 2024, an interdisciplinary workshop on ‘Digital Health, AI, and Data Governance’ was held at the Warwick School of Law, UK. The workshop tackled challenges such as fragmented AI governance, ethical concerns in public health data use, and balancing innovation with patient safety in medical AI. Experts from law, medicine, and technology came together, sparking thought-provoking discussions on creating equitable and ethical frameworks.

On November 2nd, 2023, a workshop tackling human rights concerns in digital health, data migration, healthcare access, and equity took place at the School of Law, University of Warwick, UK. The event attracted a diverse audience of lawyers, activists, policymakers, students, and academics eager to engage on these critical issues.

Eight thought-provoking presentations explored a range of topics:

• Legal Protection of Human Genetic Resource Information in China
• Decolonising the Migration of Digital Health Data in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Global Health Governance's Colour Line: How International Finance Has Shaped Global Health Disparities
• Digital IDs and Access to Healthcare in Uganda
• Digital Health and Rights: Early Reflections from a Transnational Participatory Action Research Project
• Regulating the Corporate Sector's Involvement in the Transnational Movement of Data in Sub Saharan Africa
• The Online Green Wave: Digital Resistance, Abortion, and the Right of Peaceful Assembly in Argentina
• The Intersection of Health, Human Rights, and Activism

Among the esteemed presenters was Allan Maleche, a Kenyan lawyer, activist, and the Executive Director of the Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN). Mr. Maleche shared his learnings on activism in Kenya and internationally at the workshop. During his visit to Warwick, he also conducted a public lecture on “The Crucial Intersection of Human Rights in Health Crises” and a workshop for students exploring legal careers in humanitarianism. This engaging workshop fostered dialogue and critical reflection on how to navigate the complex intersection of digital technologies, healthcare, and human rights, paving the way for a more equitable and just future.

Images from the day:

Hadijah Namyalo-Ganafa presenting her work on 'digital IDs and access to healthcare in Uganda'.

Allan Maleche, Executive Director of Kenya Legal & Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS, discussing the intersections of health, human rights, and activism.

A group picture of Prof. Sara (Meg) Davis, Allan Malache and Kene Esom at the workshop.

On 4-8 September 2023: Warwick Law School hosted 30 participants from Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, India, Singapore, the Netherlands, Columbia and the United Kingdom in-person and online for a series of engaging discussions on the challenges, solutions and regional perspectives pertaining to the rapidly evolving digital health landscape globally. The Digital Health Workshop on 4 September included insightful presentations on emerging research from authors for the project’s upcoming Special Issue can be viewed hereLink opens in a new window. You can also view Professor Sharifah Sekalala’s lecture on ‘Law, Regulation, and HealthLink opens in a new window’ on 5 September

The Workshop and lecture were part of a weeklong Summer School for the digital health scholars, activists and developers working on the broader comparative project in Sub-Saharan Africa and was funded by Wellcome Trust.

Dr Joy Malala discussing the law and policy aspects for

consumers in their use of health apps in African countries

Dr Ian Saunders discussing the principles and best practices around designing health applications.

On July 12-13 2023:as part of the broader aims of the project, CIPESA, our partner conducted a workshop on ‘Advancing Data Justice in Africa’ at the Data Fest Africa 2023 in Kenya. The workshop featured guest speakers and stakeholders including Jamii Forums, Tanzania; Afro Leadership, Cameroon; Data Protection Commission, Senegal; Afya na Haki, Uganda; Amnesty Tech, Kenya; Personal Data Protection Office, Uganda; Centre for the Study of Economies in Africa (CSEA), Nigeria; and Data Economy Policy Hub, South Africa. This workshop was funded by Wellcome Trust.

On 30 March 2023:as part of the broader aims of the project, Afya na Haki (Ahaki), our partner in Uganda hosted a seminar on Digital Health Innovation and Technology for Youth Empowerment in Uganda. It brought together youth, experts and stakeholders in digital health and identified a range of emerging digital health issues for Ugandans and African citizens more broadly

Seminar on Digital Health Innovation and Technology for Youth Empowerment hosted by AfyanaHaki in Uganda.

On 1-2 February 2023: the project investigators brought together project team members across all work packages to share ideas and visions, discuss progress and chart a collective path forward. The two-day workshop was funded by the University of Witwatersrand, hosted by the University of Nairobi and was attended by civil society representatives from the Open Institute, CEHURD and CIPESA, as well as academics from the University of Nairobi, the University of Warwick and the University of Witwatersrand. The collaboration, collective thinking and expertise of our diverse team will guarantee the continued success of this project, ensuring it meets its outcomes in shaping the solutions we need to improve health data collection and use in Sub-Saharan Africa

Project members and partners at the two-day workshop held at the University of Nairobi. 

On 14 April 2021: the Project Investigators hosted an international webinar in Kenya bringing together stakeholders in data handling, data management and protection of Health applications to discuss challenges and possibilities for innovation, particularly within the Sub-Saharan African context.

On 29 June 2021: the Project Investigators hosted an international webinar in South Africa bringing together stakeholders to explore with government regulators, public health researchers, medical licensing boards and app innovators/users their perceptions of the regulatory problems of health apps, particularly within the Sub-Saharan African context.