Action Line C7 E-Health: Towards health sector Digital Transformation

The Sustainable Development Goal for Health (SDG3) calls for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and wellbeing for all to ensure that all people can access quality health services, to safeguard all people from public health risks, and to protect all people from impoverishment due to illness. To convert SDG into concrete objectives, WHO advocates to reach the “triple billion” targets: 1 billion more people benefitting from universal health coverage; 1 billion more people better protected from health emergencies and; 1 billion more people enjoying better health and wellbeing.

To reach those targets, incorporating ICTs and the transformational benefits they bring into health systems is an absolute priority particularly at the time when health systems in most countries are facing increasing pressure to improve quality, accessibility and affordability in a very cost-effective manner. As well as saving lives and money, Digital Health initiatives can help ensure fairness in service delivery and thereby stimulate progress in public health and can make the system work for the whole population. Digital Health initiatives have demonstrated already significant potential of ICT to empower healthcare workers and the beneficiary population by providing them with the right information at the right time and place to ensure healthy lives and wellbeing for all. Adding to that the new opportunities that some of the digital innovations are bringing such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. They have the potential to be a game changer to achieve Universal Health Coverage goals by empowering frontline health workers to enable early stages of diagnostic or to identify population at risk of developing diseases or to use them during emergencies to save more lives.