Q2/2019 - World Health Organisatio (WHO)

Geneva, 17 April 2019

On 17 April 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published a recommendation how to use digital technologies to serve patients' health and organise national health systems more effectively (WHO Guideline on Digital Health Interventions)[1]. In 2018, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution to develop a global strategy on digital health. The recommendations now presented are expected to be approved at the next WH Assembly in autumn 2020.

  • When presenting the recommendations, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that digital technologies opened up new possibilities for modern medicine, but also warned that the problems associated with them must be discussed carefully. Telemedicine could contribute to a significant improvement in health care in many parts of the world. Digital tools could help patients to better monitor their therapies. But all that had to be organised in such a way that patients did not suffer any harm, their data were secure and protected from misuse, and no illusions were created about the possibilities of digital medical tools.
  • „Digital Health is not a Silver Bullet“, said WHO-CIO Bernardo Mariano Jr. But it can complement existing medical care and make it more effective. Medical staff must get appropriate training to enable them to use the new possibilities[2].
Mehr zum Thema
WHOQ2/2019
  1. [1] WHO releases first guideline on digital health interventions, see: https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/17-04-2019-who-releases-first-guideline-on-digital-health-interventions
  2. [2] WHO Guideline: recommendations on digital interventions for health system strengthening, Genf, 17. April 2019: „The key aim of this guideline is to present recommendations based on a critical evaluation of the evidence on emerging digital health interventions that are contributing to health system improvements, based on an assessment of the benefits, harms, acceptability, feasibility, resource use and equity considerations. This guideline urges readers to recognize that digital health interventions are not a substitute for functioning health systems, and that there are significant limitations to what digital health is able to address.“ See: https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/digital-interventions-health-system-strengthening/en/