The benefits of an interconnected world for health care remain untapped. As a result of the politics of inequality between rich and poor countries, one or a few health systems are set up as models. Every country, irrespective of political or economic status, should be open to learning from others to build relevant and cost-effective systems. To combat the current global challenge of chronic non-communicable diseases, poor countries have the advantage of flexible health systems that are veritable laboratories of health systems research. Not only can research conducted in these health systems help harness the potential of mobile communication technologies and informal health providers, it can also help rich country health systems adapt to meet the chronic disease challenge.

KEYWORDS Health care delivery, health care systems, access to health care, telemedicine, health manpower, chronic disease, Nigeria