On February 14, 2023, a symposium titled “<strong><em>Towards the Digitalization of Health System for Mother and Child Health in Kenya</em></strong>: <strong>Actual Situations and Challenges” was held at KEMRI (Kenya Medical Research Institute) in collaboration with Nagasaki University. The primary objective of this symposium was to present and discuss the current status and challenges of digitalization in the field of maternal and child health in Kenya. Over 50 researchers from both Japan and Kenya participated in the event.
From Japan, Professor Naoyuki Kawahara, the representative of the NGO Rosinantes, and Mr. Yoshinori Kōda from NEC also participated. They delivered presentations on the current status of maternal and child health systems in Zambia, Sudan, and Kenya, as well as the challenges and prospects for digitalization in these regions.
Nagasaki University is engaged in various projects in Kwale County, including the Human Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), Maternal and Child Registration System (WIRE), and the joint project with NEC and KEMRI called the “Newborn Fingerprint Authentication Project.” During the symposium, Professor Satoshi Kaneko and Researcher Ichihito Miyamichi presented the current status and future challenges of this project.
In rural areas of Kenya, many individuals lack proper identification documents, which makes the registration and management of personal information a challenge. The evidence obtained through the empirical experiments of this project is expected to contribute to the digitalization of population registration and healthcare systems in the future, furthering the development of research projects.
On February 15, the “Towards Human Resource Development in Terms of Research Field: Young Researcher Training in Projects and Future Vision” symposium was held as part of the KASH (KEMRI Annual Scientific and Health Conference). During this symposium, various researchers presented their achievements in research activities in Kenya, both past and present, as well as future developments. At the beginning of the symposium, Director Ito delivered the opening remarks and shared the aspirations for the future development of Nagasaki University’s research activities. Vice Center Head Inoue also discussed the need for human resource development, including initiatives like the P3 Training, at Nagasaki University to strengthen research capacity among KEMRI researchers.
Nagasaki University hosts many Kenyan exchange students, and several of them continue their research careers as researchers at KEMRI after obtaining their degrees. This ongoing collaboration and development of joint research, along with human resource development, are expected to further enhance the partnership in the future.










