Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is ensuring everyone has access to quality health services needed without suffering any financial hardship. Most African countries including Nigeria are striving to meet this target since the declaration but so far, as of 2020, Nigeria has only made little progress in achieving this goal which was declared to be achieved by 2030. Meanwhile, incorporating Mobile health technology (mHealth) has prospective benefits for achieving UHC by improving access to health care services particularly for those in hard-to-reach communities, enhancing knowledge and access to health information for health workers and communities leading to; increase in productivity of the health workforce, and access to quality healthcare services. Although mHealth has good prospect of promoting the achievement of UHC in Nigeria but there are limitations of poor power supply, poor data collection from evidence-based researches, and restricted access to mobile phones and internet especially in core rural communities in Nigeria. We aim to discuss how mHealth can be leveraged on in promoting achievement of UHC and the challenges associated with incorporating appropriate technology in the Nigerian healthcare system.

Introduction A designathon is a three-stage participatory activity informed by design thinking. There is a growing literature on designathons in health. This study synthesised designathons’ effectiveness and implementation-related factors to address health challenges. Methods We searched Cochrane Library, Embase, PubMed, Scopus and the ClinicalTrials.gov registry for articles containing primary data on designathons for health from their dates of inception to 29 November 2022. We retrieved additional studies from citation searching and a complementary open call. We synthesised data on designathons’ effectiveness (ie, engagement, outputs and implementation), required resources and implementation-related factors (ie, resources, facilitators, barriers, strengths and limitations). We assessed the risk of bias using a checklist adapted from Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools. Results In total, 4973 citations were identified, and 42 studies were included. In total, 26 studies (62%) were from high-income countries. The median number of total participants was 49, divided into a median of 8 teams. The duration of the intensive collaboration phase ranged from 3 hours to 7 days. Common evaluation criteria were feasibility, innovation and impact. Idea and prototype outputs included mobile phone applications, educational programmes and medical devices. Interventions developed from a designathon was estimated to be highly cost-effective. The most common facilitators were interdisciplinary participants and high-quality mentorship. The most common barriers were suboptimal execution of the events, difficulties in balancing interdisciplinary participants across teams and limited support for participants along the process. There were limited data on required resources and further implementation of solutions after designathons. Conclusion Given designathons’ adaptability in terms of budget, mode of delivery, type of output and involvement of diverse participants, including end users, designathons can be implemented in a wide range of contexts to address various health issues. PROSPERO registration number CRD42023389685.

Telemedicine has shown potentials in salvaging the dwindling healthcare system in low and middle-income countries but faced certain challenges that may create new health inequalities especially based on income. This letter discusses the debate that arises regarding the role of telemedicine on health inequalities in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). It calls for the development of strategies to prevent the widening of the health inequalities gap in LMICs from telemedicine usage. Recommendations were also highlighted to facilitate universal health coverage in LMICs through telemedicine.

In Sub Saharan Africa, the morbidity and mortality rate from Non-Communicable Diseases is increasing more than in any place in the world. However, Sub-Saharan Africa faces many challenges such as problems with financing, health system issues, contending interests from industry actors as well as low NCD awareness levels, which have impeded all efforts to curb the burden of these diseases. This perspective discussed the causes, effects and the need to the prioritize prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in Africa, together with practical recommendations. Some of the causes include fast urbanization, dietary changes, lack of health insurance and political instability amongst others, these have had huge implications on not only health indices but also socio-economic development in African countries. There is a need for political will and engagement, community engagement, behavioral changes, and interdisciplinary coordination to reduce the prevalence of NCDs in Africa.

Historically, healthcare has been skewed towards curative medicine neglecting preventive care leading to high cases of preventable diseases and mortalities. Preventive medicine does not only contribute towards improving health and well-being (SDG3) but also reduces poverty (SDG1). This article aims to highlight the need for prioritizing preventive medicine over curative medicine and also explore opportunities of telemedicine in its promotion.

Introduction: An estimated one billion people globally are currently suffering from hypertension. Prevention and management of hypertension are suboptimal especially in low- and middle-income countries leading to increased complications and deaths. With increased mobile phone coverage globally, this study aims to review mobile health technologies used for the prevention and management of hypertension. Methods: We conducted a literature search on electronic databases using identified keywords involving “hypertension”, “mobile health technology” and their synonyms. Snowballing technique was also used. Papers were screened at two levels by independent reviewers. The targets were studies published in peer-reviewed journals reporting mobile health interventions for hypertension prevention and management. Only primary research studies published in English from January 2017 to April 2024 were included. Google Forms were used to extract the data along with other characteristics, and selected articles were categorised into: mobile application, web-based solutions, and Short Message Service (SMS) and other offline solutions. Result: The search yielded 184 articles, and 44 studies were included in the review. Most (n = 26) were randomised control trials. Twenty-two studies (22) focused only on mobile applications solutions, 12 on SMS and other offline mHealth, 5 web-based solutions, and 5 combined more than one type of mobile health technology. The United States of America had the majority of studies (n = 17), with 6 studies from other American countries, 11 from Asia and nine from Europe, while only one from Africa. A total of 36 studies reported that mobile health technology significantly improved hypertension care through reduced blood pressure, improved adherence to follow-up visits and medications, and lifestyle changes. SMS and offline mHealth strategies have also demonstrated effectiveness in promoting self-management and reducing racial disparities in hypertension care. Conclusion: Mobile health technology has the potential to play a significant role in the prevention and management of hypertension. However, there is a need for mobile health solutions for hypertension prevention and management in African countries and other developing countries. Integrating mHealth into primary healthcare delivery would also go a long way in strengthening patient care and reducing the burden on healthcare systems.