More than 11,000 consultations. Over 7,000 people reached.
As the ratio of the health system to the people they serve continues to grow, the Nigerian health system has often resorted to creative multidimensional ways to respond. One of such responses is leveraging innovative ways to “reach more people with healthcare, without overstretching strained health infrastructures?”
Determining this led the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) with technical support from SCIDaR and VillageReach to undertake a 29-month research project tagged Telehealth. The team wanted to test whether digital connections could make existing systems perform more efficiently for the people it serves.
With mobile penetration in Lagos is among the highest in West Africa, and network coverage reaching even the city’s informal settlements – Telehealth offers a promising solution to some healthcare needs. Given that phone calls cost less than a trip across town, the combination of connectivity, cost advantage, and population density, created the right conditions to try a new way of extending care.
So rather than build parallel structures, the project embedded teleconsultations into familiar touchpoints.
- A toll-free hotline, linking callers to certified health workers for advice or referrals.
- Market kiosks, offering quick consultations in places women already felt safe.
- Pharmacy kiosks, connecting patients to licensed clinicians where they already bought medicines.
The goal was to strengthen these channels by bringing qualified consultation into the everyday rhythm of Lagos life.
The team mapped and analyzed data across the five IBILE divisions of Lagos State — Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, and Epe — to pinpoint underserved populations, which are the primary targets of the telehealth research. 90 percent of users reported almost no waiting time; 87 percent barely travelled causing transport costs to drop by roughly 20 percent. Lost income from time away shrank by nearly 30 percent. It is important to note that most of the users were women who would have skipped care altogether without these new access points, pointing to improved accessibility for not just rural Lagos, but women in Lagos as well (LASHMA–SCIDaR Telehealth Study, 2025.).
The project’s strength was its adaptability. Using Plan-Do-Study-Act and RE-AIM frameworks, this ensures that each model is refined based on real-time feedback from users and providers, learning what combination of tools, training, and trust could make remote care a norm.
Health insurance enrollment through LASHMA allowed us to link digital consultations to financial protection.
As many pharmacies were already semi-formal health points; teleconsultation simply added qualified guidance to the interaction.
Some challenges still remain. Connectivity varies across neighbourhoods, and electronic prescriptions and referrals need stronger links to physical clinics.
For telehealth to endure, it must sit squarely within Nigeria’s Digital Health Strategy (2024–2028) and primary healthcare reforms, with telecom partners ensuring stable access.
Already, other states; including Ondo, Oyo, and Ekiti, are requesting support to replicate the model. Their interest signals confidence that digital-first care can reduce service gaps without adding financial strain to state budgets. Lagos has shown that when innovation works with the system, not against it, the results are profound.
