WHO has designated the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in Barcelona, Spain, as a WHO collaborating centre on digital health. Collaborating centres carry out activities in support of various WHO programmes in areas such as medicine, public health, nursing and midwifery, and more. UOC’s work plan for 2025–2029 includes supporting WHO/Europe in assessing and improving telemedicine and digital health services, as well as developing guides, methodologies and strategies for the effective integration of these solutions into national health systems. UOC will also be responsible for analytics on the implementation of digital solutions aligned with WHO/Europe’s priorities on universal health coverage, climate change and ageing under the new European Programme of Work 2025–2030.
“Ageing populations, rising costs of living, health workforce shortages and climate-related challenges require our health systems to adapt and evolve, including digitally,” said Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, WHO/Europe’s Director of Country Health Policies and Systems. “Today, more than 80% of countries in the Region have digital health strategies or policies, which makes the need for implementation support and evidence-based guidance increasingly important. UOC’s expertise will help us translate innovation potential into concrete improvements in access, quality and efficiency. We are pleased to continue this collaboration.”
Francesc Saigí Rubió, the centre’s director, said, “We are proud to collaborate with WHO and have our international leadership in digital health appreciated and acknowledged. Now, greater emphasis is placed on ensuring the quality, equity and sustainability of digital solutions. We look forward to further strengthening public policy and the digital transformation of health systems together, both in Europe and worldwide”.
Continued collaboration
Previously, as a collaborating centre in eHealth, UOC led several projects, including the development of WHO/Europe’s “Support tool to strengthen telemedicine”, which is already in use in some countries. WHO also received support from UOC in drawing up recommendations for the improvement of digital health services. As a result, both WHO and UOC are now better positioned to generate scientific evidence on the impact of the digital transformation of public health.
The new collaboration will support the implementation of the Regional Digital Health Action Plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030 and the WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025. In its progress report on the Regional Digital Health Action Plan, WHO/Europe committed to expanding its network of collaborating centres in 2024–2025 to strengthen the Regional research agenda and accelerate the digital transformation of health systems. This new designation brings the number of WHO collaborating centres on digital health in the European Region to 3.