The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific has published the WHO Regional Action Framework on Digital Health in the Western Pacific (the Framework), to support countries in harnessing digital health technologies to improve people’s access to quality and sustainable health services.
Digital health has the potential to drive transformative primary health care, radically change health service delivery, support the reform of health systems and ultimately reshape the future of health. The Framework aims to empower all actors in the digital health ecosystem to stimulate and foster innovation, inclusivity and participation to advance the adoption of high-impact digital health technologies.
Endorsed by WHO Member States of the Western Pacific Region in 2024, the Framework responds to the accelerated growth of digital health across the Region, driven by factors including the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid advancements in generative artificial intelligence.
The Framework was developed through consultations with regional experts and Member States, including a dedicated Member States Consultation in March 2024. This platform enabled countries to share insights, deliberate on key digital health topics and shape the Framework to reflect a collective vision for the Region, while aligning with priorities and requirements of each Member State. Further feedback provided by Member States as part of the agenda item on digital health at the seventy-fifth session of the Regional Committee has also been addressed in the final version.
Five domains for action
To address the challenges and opportunities in digital health implementation, the Framework aims to achieve three strategic objectives – enhanced digital health governance; people-centric innovative technology; and empowered and included actors – across five priority domains (Fig. 1). Each of the following domains includes recommendations for countries at different stages of digital health adoption:
- Governance
- Socio-technical infrastructure
- Financing and economics
- Digital health solutions
- Data
Fig. 1. The five domains of the WHO Regional Action Framework on Digital Health in the Western Pacific
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Source: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific
The Framework promotes a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, encouraging Member States to develop national digital health strategies aligned with local priorities and global standards. Importantly, the Framework emphasizes the need to align digital health with broader societal digital transformation and to consider its long-term impacts on future generations and the environment.
WHO remains committed to supporting Member States in implementing the Framework’s recommendations and advancing the adoption of high-impact digital health technologies to ensure digital health contributes to better access, quality and sustainability of health care for everyone in the Western Pacific Region.