Aga Khan hospital to set up Ksh.1.5B medical research database

The hospital, in partnership with US medical IT firm Meditech will create one of the country’s most sought-after health databases that will offer anonymized data for faculty and researchers to understand and design interventions for better health outcomes.

Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi (AKUH,N) CEO Rashid Khalani, says the data will be domiciled in Nairobi and the hospital is in consultation with the office of the data protection commissioners to ensure they operate within the law.

The digitized system is set to unleash the power of data-driven research and empowering our scientific community to accelerate medical advancements and address the most pressing healthcare challenges

“Because of the millions of patients who are seen across Aga Khan hospitals and outreach clinics health every year, that information will be available. So if you want to do research on cancer, let's say on breast cancer with a different population, we can do that research. And this hospital, as you know, is not just a hospital, it's a university hospital. So we have trainee doctors and nurses who require data for research,” Mr Khalani said.

“All the data that we have within this hospital is not outside of Kenya. We have been seeking advice from the Office of Data Protection, are we doing anything wrong? So we are walking the journey. This phenomenon is new, it’s new for everyone, right? So, nobody can claim that they know it all,” he said.

Medical data has become one of the most sought-after information that allows medical companies and research institutions research for solutions and design targeted interventions.

Kenya is still catching up with the global shift from paper-based medical records to digital systems like the Agha Khan new Electronic Health Records (EHR) system.

However, most hospitals have purchased a digital health system primarily for administrative purposes with specialized operations like radiology and laboratory management systems commonly standalone with varying levels of interoperability within facilities across multiple systems.

Aga Khan’s project, dubbed ‘AKU OneHealth’ promises to give patients electronic access to their health records through a patient portal enabling them to view their personal information, access test results, view appointments, track immunization and ask follow-up questions.