Public Digital Health Technology
The Public Digital Health Technology (PDH) team engages with a variety of stakeholders in digital health in order to achieve the following three strategic objectives:
1. Normative Support. Provide support to WHO divisions and departments to develop clinical, public health, and data-related guidance aligned with digital health principles and best practices, to optimize health delivery and impact. Additionally, provide technical guidance to Member States on how to choose safe and appropriate digital health technologies to strengthen health systems to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
2. Market Shaping. Establish strategic leadership and assessment mechanisms for emerging digital health technologies by fostering an equitable ecosystem of global and country-level partners. The aim is to enable member states to actively develop, implement, and support interoperable solutions that can be sustained and scaled, with in-country stakeholders leading strategic direction and development.
3. Operational Support. Leverage collaborative mechanisms to amplify investments and implementation into appropriate digital health technologies and global goods. Contribute to coordinated assessments of digital health needs, and provide support to countries to adopt and scale quality digital health technologies that meet local needs and contribute to resilient and sustainable health systems.
The key initiatives undertaken by the PDH team include:
- SMART Guidelines
- Recommended SMART health and data content packages consistent with WHO recommendations and interoperability standards
- Secretariat for working groups on: authoring and implementing SMART guidelines; and supporting reference software adoption using the FHIR Android Software Development Kit (SDK)
- Em Care
- Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates
- WHO Digital Health Clearinghouse
- WHO Classifications of Digital Health Interventions
- WHO Guidelines: Recommendations on Digital Interventions for Health System Strengthening
- Digital Implementation Investment Guide (DIIG)
- Digital Health Center of Excellence (DICE)
- Monitoring and Evaluating Digital Health Interventions
- Global Research Priorities for Digital Health