Digital health solutions to improve health care: a call for papers

Bull World Health Organ 2024;102:150–150A | doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.291451 Editorials 150 References Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/ journals/bulletin Health inequities, within and across countries, stand as a critical global challenge of our time. Over 1 billion people face preventable diseases and premature deaths due to limited access to health care.1 The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has further widened these disparities, with impacts disproportionately affecting people in vulnerable situations,2 highlighting the need to address the underlying struc- tural inequality.3 Higher life expectancy and chronic noncommunicable disease prevalence have increased demand for health services, while declining fertility rates and adult workforce have decreased governments’ fiscal capacity and therefore financial allocations to the health sector.4 Inadequate govern- ment spending on health has increased out-of-pocket expenditure and financial hardship or unmet health-care needs for those who cannot afford to pay, with delayed access possibly resulting in dis- ability or death.5 In our digitally interconnected world, capitalizing innovative technolo- gies emerges as a promising approach to advance universal health coverage. More people have access to mobile phones than to sanitation facilities; in 2022, there were 108 mobile cellular sub- scriptions per 100 people worldwide,6 whereas only about 81% of the popula- tion was using at least basic sanitation services.7 This reality, while concerning, underscores the immense potential of digital health to reach a substantial por- tion of the global population. In 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Global strategy on digital health 2020–2025.8 The strategy’s vision is to improve health for everyone, every- where, by accelerating the development and adoption of appropriate, accessible, affordable, scalable and sustainable person-centric digital health solutions. Digital health solutions also aim to pre- vent, detect and respond to epidemics and pandemics, while also developing infrastructure and different types of applications that enable countries to use health data to promote health and well-being, and to achieve the health- related sustainable development goals and targets. This strategy provides useful guidance for countries in their efforts towards implementing a digital health policy and strategy.8 Digita l hea lth solut ions can strengthen health systems and fa- cilitate remote health-care services. For example, training the health workforce and providing teleconsultations to health workers and patients can make health care more accessible, equitable and affordable, especially for hard-to- reach marginalized populations and people in low- and middle-income countries.9 However, these digital solutions require interoperability of the existing health data. Using digital tools such as artificial intelligence for real-time remote diagnosis and treat- ment is poised to transform health-care provision due to these tools’ ability to unlock the potential of big data and fill the gap of skilled workforce shortages. For example, artificial intelligence ap- plications can be used for diagnosis, health-care analytics and interpretation of magnetic resonance imaging and radiographs. Digital health is making inroads into nearly every facet of health system building blocks, ranging from training and education of the health workforce, health information systems, clinical decision support at the point of service to patient self-management of chronic conditions.10 The Bulletin of the World Health Organization calls for papers that pro- vide evidence and experience on how the digital transformation in low- and middle-income countries has been ap- plied in ensuring no one is left behind and that health-care services become more accessible – overcoming the digital divide – efficient, equitable and afford- able. Papers should guide policy-makers and decision-makers on how to move forward in the digital transformation era, covering topics such as policy analyses on necessary enablers that ac- celerate digital transformation, notably standards, infrastructure, policy and governance; scalable solutions to reach marginalized and hard-to-reach popula- tions; experiences in the shift towards a more digitalized health care in low- and middle-income countries; and evidence of how digital technologies have im- proved the efficiency, equity, accessibil- ity and affordability of health care. The Bulletin welcomes contribu- tions from stakeholders, public health decision-makers, researchers and civil society and community representatives. Articles that address the impacts of health technologies and digital solutions on health inequities and affordability are welcome. We encourage manuscripts that identify effective, feasible, stan- dardized and scalable use of health technologies. The deadline for submissions is 16 June 2024. Manuscripts should be submitted in accordance with the Bul- letin’s guidelines for contributors and the cover letter should mention this call for papers.  Digital health solutions to improve health care: a call for papers Divya Lakhotia,a Rapeepong Suphanchaimat,a Walaiporn Patcharanarumol,a Alain Labriqueb & Viroj Tangcharoensathiena © 2024 The authors; licensee World Health Organization. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution IGO License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/legalcode), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In any reproduction of this article there should not be any suggestion that WHO or this article endorse any specific organization or products. The use of the WHO logo is not permitted. This notice should be preserved along with the article’s original URL. a International Health Policy Program, Ministry of Public Health, Tiwanon Road, Nonthaburi, 11000, Thailand. b Department of Digital Health and Innovation, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Correspondence to Viroj Tangcharoensathien (email: viroj@ ihpp .thaigov .net). E itorials Bull World Health Organ 2024;102:150–150A| doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.24.291451 Editorials 150A References 1. Carey TA. Solving the puzzle of global health inequity: completing the picture piece by piece by piece. Glob Implement Res Appl. 2021;1(3):195– 208. doi: http:// dx .doi .org/ 10 .1007/ s43477 -021 -00022 -3 PMID: 34622214 2. Tan SY, Foo C, Verma M, Hanvoravongchai P, Cheh PLJ, Pholpark A, et al. Mitigating the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable populations: lessons for improving health and social equity. Soc Sci Med. 2023 Jul;328:116007. doi: http:// dx .doi .org/ 10 .1016/ j .socscimed .2023 .116007 PMID: 37279639 3. Jensen N, Kelly A, Avendano M. The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the need for an equity-focused global health agenda. Humanit Soc Sci Commun. 2021 Jan 18;8(1):15. doi: http:// dx .doi .org/ 10 .1057/ s41599 -020 -00700 -x 4. Barroy H, Kutzin J, Tandon A, Kurowski C, Lie G, Borowitz M, et al. Assessing fiscal space for health in the SDG era: a different story. Health Syst Reform. 2018 Jan;4(1):4–7. doi: http:// dx .doi .org/ 10 .1080/ 23288604 .2017 .1395503 5. Rosenberg M, Kowal P, Rahman MM, Okamoto S, Barber SL, Tangcharoensathien V. Better data on unmet healthcare need can strengthen global monitoring of universal health coverage. BMJ. 2023 Sep 5;382:e075476. doi: http:// dx .doi .org/ 10 .1136/ bmj -2023 -075476 PMID: 37669794 6. Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people). Washington, DC: World Bank Open Data; 2023. 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