Union minister for health and family welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya, launched the ‘Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH)- a World Health Organisation (WHO) Managed Network’ at the Mahatma Mandir convention centre.
In Gujarat’s Gandhinagar during the second and final day of the G20 health ministers’ meeting on Saturday. Union minister for health and family welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya, launched GIDH in the presence of WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. (Twitter/DrTedros)
The launch took place in the presence of Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general, WHO.
“Today marks a momentous day in the history of the G20 Health Working Group, as G20 countries have not only identified a priority for its relevance but collectively worked towards its launch,” Mandaviya said in his address at the event.
Highlighting the current surge in digital health solutions worldwide, particularly those centred on vertical health programmes, the minister said, “This siloed approach and fragmented digital solutions result in significant workload on health workers, inefficiencies due to duplication, and a lack of interoperability.”
He added, “India’s G20 presidency has leveraged its experience in developing a national digital health architecture through the convergence of digital health interventions aimed at health systems strengthening through interoperability by design.”
Mandaviya applauded the collaboration of G20 countries and other stakeholders for recognising the need for a common framework in integrating all digital health initiatives, creating a comprehensive digital health ecosystem through the GIDH initiative.
GIDH aims to consolidate evidence and amplify gains in global digital health for health systems, while strengthening mutual accountability to enhance the impact of future investments. It will be a WHO Managed Network that promotes equitable access to digital health by addressing challenges such as duplication of efforts and “products-focused” digital health transformation.
Dr. Ghebreyesus emphasised the integrative nature of GIDH, stating, “GIDH is an integrative step that fosters equity in healthcare by converging efforts and best practices.” He added, “It will amplify our efforts with the incorporation of tools, such as AI (artificial intelligence) while giving due importance to ethics, policy, and governance, ensuring global healthcare isn’t something that we can do alone. GIDH will ensure inclusivity, integration, and alignment of our goals by not leaving anyone behind.”
Dr. Ghebreyesus noted that WHO has been committed to using the latest technologies for health, highlighting the significant impact of digital health technologies such as telemedicine and AI over the past two decades. He further emphasised that “the power and capacity of digital technology have expanded at an unprecedented rate over the past two decades. The potential and successful implementation of technology during the times of severe healthcare disruptions was evident during COVID-19 in the form of telemedicine usages.”
Outcome Document
On Saturday, the health ministers from the G20 nations unanimously adopted an ‘outcome document’ aimed at fortifying the global health framework, underscoring the commitment of G20 countries to bolster the Global Health Architecture, drawing lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The outcome document represents a collective resolve among G20 nations to cultivate health systems that are more resilient, equitable, sustainable, and inclusive, according to a government release. “The objective is to effectively address persisting global health challenges and potential future public health emergencies. Central to this mission is the provision of equitable access to safe, quality-assured, effective, and affordable vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and other medical countermeasures. A particular emphasis is placed on extending this accessibility to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and small island developing states (SIDS),” it said.
An important aspect of this comprehensive strategy is the recognition of the significance of digital health and the modernisation of health data. The G20 nations acknowledge that digital health solutions play a critical role in fortifying healthcare systems and ensuring fair healthcare service distribution. These technological advancements have the capacity to transform healthcare delivery, enabling functions such as electronic health records, real-time public health monitoring, personalised care, and more, it added.