Important Facts For Prelims
Global Initiative on Digital Health
- 21 Feb 2024
- 3 min read
Why in News?
During India’s G20 presidency in 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated the Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH) virtually, focusing on one of the three priority areas agreed upon during this period.
- GIDH will support countries in three ways by listening to their needs, by aligning resources to avoid fragmentation and overlap, and by providing quality-assured products.
What is the Aim of the GIDH?
- About:
- The new GIDH initiative will operate as a WHO-managed network and platform to support the implementation of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025.
- The Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025 outlines a comprehensive framework for leveraging digital technologies to enhance health and healthcare systems worldwide.
- As a WHO Managed Network (“Network of Networks”), GIDH aims to consolidate and amplify recent and past gains in global digital health while strengthening mutual accountability.
- The new GIDH initiative will operate as a WHO-managed network and platform to support the implementation of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025.
- Aim:
- Developing clear priority-driven investment plans for digital health transformation.
- Improving reporting and transparency of digital health resources.
- Facilitating knowledge exchange and collaboration across regions and countries to accelerate progress.
- Supporting whole-of-government approaches for digital health governance in countries.
- Increasing technical and financial support to the implementation of the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 and its next phase.
- Four Main Components:
- Country Needs Tracker: A mechanism to identify and track the digital health needs of different countries.
- Country Resource Portal: A map of available digital health resources within each country.
- Transformation Toolbox: A repository of quality-assured digital tools for health transformation.
- Knowledge Exchange: Facilitation of knowledge sharing among participating nations.
- Role of India:
- India played a crucial role in establishing this institutional framework for digital health during its G20 presidency.
- India’s Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is working toward creating a seamless electronic health record system.
What is Digital Healthcare?
- About:
- Digital healthcare is a system of medical care delivery that uses an array of digital technologies to make quality medical care services accessible, affordable, and sustainable.
- The broad scope of digital health includes categories such as mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth and telemedicine, and personalised medicine.
