Ethiopian government agencies partner on digital ID for health sector

Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health and its national identity program have formed a partnership to integrate the Fayda digital ID with the country’s healthcare sector.

The planned “Digital ID for Health” will serve as a patient registry while supporting national health insurance schemes, employee and professional licensing, and health records sharing, according to the government announcement.

The collaboration between Ethiopia’s National Identity Program (NIDP) and the Ministry of Health is intended to simplify transactions and cut fraudulent claims through secure, real-time identity verification. The announcement does not provide specifics for how identity verification and user authentication will be carried out, but it could be through the biometrics captured during enrollment for Fayda.

Simprints has been working with the government on a biometric digital ID to link patients with digital records since 2019, and just launched a tender for a consultant to help define the project’s next steps.

The use of Fayda is also intended to improve administration and credential verification for increased transparency and enforcement of professional standards.

Wait times for registration and patient records retrieval will fall, the government says, resulting in improved health service delivery.

The integration of Fayda by various government ministries to reduce repeated identity verifications and registrations is a key goal of the NIDP.

Madras Security Printers was recently selected as the provider for Fayda ID cards.

Article Topics

Africa  |  digital ID  |  Ethiopia  |  Ethiopia National ID Program (NIDP)  |  Fayda  |  patient identification