PD 6a - Shaping the Future of Digital Healthcare in the Developing World

Digital technologies are on the way to transform access to health care tremendously. Electronic patient records, new medical data infrastructures to close current data gaps, mobile applications that support diagnostic and therapeutic practices, telemedicine that allows health care over distances, or innovative logistics infrastructures like the use of drones for the delivery of drugs to remote areas are just a few examples of how digital tools can be used for providing better health care. Without any doubt, the future of health is digital. The applications seem to be infinite and they promise to be cost-effective, fast and easy to implement while assuring high quality standards.

However, the effective implementation of scalable digital health solutions face numerous challenges and lessons from practice show that currently not all promises can be met. There is an increasing need to harmonize technologies, allow interoperability between different applications, or design public health systems that can handle innovation. Yet, the pressure to find funds for new projects makes it difficult to openly debate failure and challenges. Leading international experts will discuss the effects of the global digital transformation for health systems in the developing world. The aim of this session is to identify the major chances and challenges in digital health and to formulate recommendations on how to design the future of digital global health.