G20 Digital health intervention report for pandemic management first published

The first G20 report in the field of digital health, Report on an approach to the application of digital health in pandemic management, it was announced on the occasion of the G20 summit. This report immediately provides an overview of the digital health response to emergencies and proposed actions and recommendations for implementation. In this report, the WHO takes the lead in a number of strategic areas of recommendations, and is committed to supporting countries in strengthening their capacity to take advantage of digital emergency response through enhanced international cooperation.

Creating a G20 Digital Health Taskforce

During the G20 presidency of Saudi Arabia, the G20 Digital Health Working Group was established with the approval of the Ministers of Health. The aim of the Working Group is to strengthen international cooperation in exploiting digital health interventions, addressing challenges in accessing fundamental requirements and supporting policy-making. In response to the Covid-19 emergency, in April 2020, a working group began addressing the challenge of the pandemic by bringing together 17 countries, international organizations including the WHO, ITU, OECD, Global Digital Health Partnership (GDPH), Global Fund and UNICEF to explore mechanisms for exploiting digital health interventions for Covid-19 emergencies. “The pandemic has revealed our vulnerability, but the Digital Health Working Group confirms that today the sharing of resources, utilities and expertise can go beyond national borders and beyond.” It was stated by Dr. Mona AlMehaid, Head of G20 Digital Health for Saudi Arabia, Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia.

Launch of the G20 report on access to digital health in pandemic management

The working body launched the first G20 report in the field of digital health, the G20 on the approach to the application of digital health in pandemic management. “This report provides a basis for blueprints for countries that will use digital health interventions in emergencies and in the future, and helps countries select information and tools relevant to each country’s health situation, regulatory environment and digital maturity.” Colleen Brooks of the Secretariat of the G20 Digital Health Working Group explains the objectives of the report. Based on data collected by the Saudi G20 Digital Health Secretariat, this report provides timely information to facilitate countries’ response to digital health problems with proposed actions and resources / recommendations for implementation. The data included a full range of emergency responses, including preparation and initiation, prevention and triage, monitoring, tracing and testing, treatment and vaccine, and post-pandemic preparation. Eleven recommendations were made for future work, among which the WHO is taking the lead in several areas:

1. Support countries that document digital health maturity in key areas of the “building blocks”, including: leadership and management; strategy and investment; legislation, policy and compliance; work force; standards and interoperability; and infrastructure;
2. Support international cooperation of countries in the development of data standards and interoperability specifications for all types of supervision; (co-leader with ITU);
3. Support international cooperation in determining the best procedure for supplementing available data;
4. Support open source digital health programs to comply with interoperability standards and specifications;
5. Support the sharing of telemedicine tools and free / open source platforms during emergencies, where these tools are not available.

The WHO is committed to taking the lead in strengthening international cooperation and building the digital health capacity of countries in response to emergencies and will continue these efforts with the G20 to strengthen the global health system, building on the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. dialogue in the G20 2021, hosted by Italy, said Bernardo Mariano Junior, Chief Information Officer, Director of the Department of Digital Health and Innovation, World Health Organization.

The report can be downloaded from digitalhealthtaskforce.org.