WHO Launches New Global Initiative on Digital Health
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Photo: WHO
WHO Launches New Global Initiative on Digital Health
WHO serves as the Secretariat for the strategy implementation to converge and convene global standards, best practices and resources to fast track digital health system transformation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the G20 India presidency have announced a new Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH) at the Health Minister’s Meeting of the G20 Summit hosted by the Government of India.
The new GIDH initiative (pronounced “guide” for short) will operate as a WHO-managed network and platform to support the implementation of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025.
WHO serves as the Secretariat for the strategy implementation to converge and convene global standards, best practices and resources to fast track digital health system transformation.
“We thank the G20 countries and the India G20 Presidency for recognizing WHO’s unique role and strengths in this area and supporting the establishment of the new GIDH network,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
The new Global Initiative on Digital Health is one of the key deliverables of India’s G20 Presidency.
Since the first WHO resolution on e-health in 2005 that led the pathway for development and adoption of the WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health, over 120 WHO Member States have developed a national digital health policy or strategy.
While recent experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a boost in digital health use, many countries express the need for support to move from product-focused and pilot digital health initiatives to establishing national digital health infrastructure with appropriate governance, policy and a competent health workforce needed to select, maintain and adapt digital health interventions.
The GIDH initiative aims to bring countries and partners together to achieve measurable outcomes.
According to WHO, digital health is a proven accelerator to advance health outcomes towards achieving Universal Health Coverage and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Digital health interventions improve health care in many ways, from supporting individuals in managing their health and wellness journeys, to enabling care providers to adhere to guidelines and provide high quality care, to strengthening health systems by improving supply chains and workforce management.
