The WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health seeks to leverage information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve health outcomes universally. Digital health is defined as the application of these technologies across various aspects of the health sector, from service delivery to monitoring and evaluation. The rapid, yet uneven, adoption of digital tools across different nations created an urgent need for a standardized, global framework. This strategy provides a common vision to ensure that the digital revolution benefits all populations, rather than exacerbating existing health inequities.
Context and Timeline
The development of the global strategy built upon earlier commitments by the World Health Assembly (WHA). A May 2018 WHA resolution (WHA 71.7) formally requested the WHO Director-General to develop a comprehensive strategy for digital health. This acknowledged the growing influence of technology and the need for a coordinated international response to manage its opportunities and risks. The goal was to ensure digital health initiatives align with national health priorities and contribute to achieving universal health coverage (UHC).
Following extensive consultation, the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 was endorsed by the Seventy-third World Health Assembly in 2020. This official endorsement marked the formal launch of the strategy, providing a five-year mandate for action. The document aims to institutionalize digital health across all WHO Member States by guiding them in strengthening their national digital health architectures. This work traces back to the 2005 WHA resolution on eHealth, which first urged Member States to develop long-term strategic plans.
The Four Strategic Objectives
The first objective focuses on promoting global collaboration and advancing the transfer of knowledge on digital health among nations. This involves creating mechanisms to share best practices, evidence, and lessons learned from various implementation models. This ensures countries do not have to develop solutions in isolation. The goal is to align countries and stakeholders to collectively address shared global opportunities and challenges.
The second objective is to advance the implementation of national digital health strategies within every Member State. This recognizes that each country must own and drive its digital transformation based on its specific health needs and resources. The WHO supports this by encouraging the definition of a national digital health architecture blueprint, including adopting open-source health data standards. This helps ensure that national investments in technology are sustainable and support improved health service delivery.
The third objective seeks to strengthen governance for digital health at the global, regional, and national levels. Robust regulatory frameworks are necessary to manage the rapid pace of technological change and mitigate risks associated with new digital tools. This calls for the creation of sustainable governance structures that promote transparency and accountability in technology development and deployment. It also involves coordinating investments in evidence-based approaches to assess and disseminate effective health technologies.
The fourth strategic objective is to advocate for people-centered health systems enabled by digital health. This directly addresses the goal of achieving universal health coverage and improving health equity for all populations. Digital tools enhance accessibility, affordability, and quality of care, supporting all areas of health from promotion to palliative care. The focus is on ensuring that technology empowers patients and health professionals, creating a truly person-centric continuum of care.
Governance and Enabling Infrastructure
Strong national governance frameworks are necessary to provide a stable, predictable environment for digital health adoption and investment. These frameworks include legislation, policy, and regulation that clearly define the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders. Without strong national leadership, digital initiatives risk becoming fragmented, unsustainable, or misaligned with overall health priorities.
A foundational element of this infrastructure is the mandatory focus on the ethical use of health data and the promotion of high privacy and security standards. Health data are classified as sensitive personal data, requiring high levels of security to protect against misuse and unauthorized access. Building social trust in digital health systems hinges upon transparent governance and strict adherence to data protection principles. This ensures that the integration of artificial intelligence and big data analytics respects individual rights while allowing for beneficial research and public health improvements.
Another technical prerequisite for successful implementation is interoperability, which refers to the ability of different health information systems and devices to communicate and exchange data seamlessly. Promoting open-source standards and common data models is crucial to allow systems to exchange data within a country and across borders for disease surveillance. Significant attention is also given to capacity building, which involves developing human capital through education and workforce training. This ensures that health professionals, administrators, and the public possess the necessary digital literacy and technical skills to utilize and manage new digital tools effectively.