After closely reviewing evidence over the last two years on digital technologies and consulting with experts from around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released its first-ever recommendation for how countries can use mobile phones, tablets and computers to provide patients with healthcare and essential services.
In 2018, states a news release, governments unanimously adopted a World Health Assembly resolution calling on WHO to develop a global strategy on digital health to support national efforts to achieve universal health coverage. That strategy is scheduled to be considered at the World Health Assembly in 2020. And in March 2019, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the creation of the Department of Digital Health to enhance WHO’s role in assessing digital technologies and support Member States in prioritizing, integrating and regulating them.
“Harnessing the power of digital technologies is essential for achieving universal health coverage,” said Dr. Tedros in a statement. “Ultimately, digital technologies are not ends in themselves; they are vital tools to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable.”
Sending reminders to pregnant women to attend antenatal care appointments and having children return for vaccinations is already showing promising returns, said WHO. The committees also looked at decision-support tools to guide health workers as they provide care and enabling individuals and health workers to communicate and consult on health issues from across different locations.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at WHO said the prospects for health-improvement look good although “the evidence also highlights challenges in the impact of some interventions.” She adds: “If digital technologies are to be sustained and integrated into health systems, they must be able to demonstrate long-term improvements over the traditional ways of delivering health services.”
The WHO statement said the guideline points to the potential to improve stock management. Digital technologies enable health workers to communicate more efficiently on the status of commodity stocks and gaps. However, notification alone is not enough to improve commodity management; health systems also must respond and take action in a timely manner for replenishing needed commodities.
“Digital interventions, depend heavily on the context and ensuring appropriate design,” warned Dr. Garrett Mehl, WHO scientist in digital innovations and research, in the statement. “This includes structural issues in the settings where they are being used, available infrastructure, the health needs they are trying to address, and the ease of use of the technology itself.”
For example:
· Health systems need to respond to the increased visibility and availability of information. People also must be assured that their own data is safe and that they are not being put at risk because they have accessed information on sensitive health topics.
· Health workers need adequate training to boost buy-in and using the technology needs to be easy.
· Providing supportive environments for training, dealing with unstable infrastructure, as well as policies to protect privacy of individuals, and governance and coordination to ensure these tools are not fragmented across the health system, is critical.
The guideline encourages policy-makers and implementers to review and adapt to these conditions if they want digital tools to drive tangible changes and provides guidance on taking privacy considerations on access to patient data.
The guideline also makes recommendations about telemedicine, which allows people living in remote locations to obtain health services by using mobile phones, web portals, or other digital tools. WHO points out that this is a valuable complement to face-to-face-interactions, but it cannot replace them entirely. It is also important that consultations are conducted by qualified health workers and that the privacy of individuals’ health information is maintained.
