Innovation for Health Impact

WHO’s vision for its work with Member States and partners in the Western Pacific, “For the Future: Towards the healthiest and safest region”, identifies innovation as one of the main new ways of working to address increasing challenges to health in this large and diverse region.

Health Innovation is a fundamental shift in the way countries improve population health and wellbeing not only through information technologies and data science like artificial intelligence, machine learning and telemedicine, but also through social entrepreneurs and others on the ground.

Our journey starts with simple questions: what can WHO and Member States do to embed innovation into their programmes and services? How can WHO and Member Sates institutionalize innovation, making it more sustainable and beneficial to more people?

While the Region has no shortage of novel ideas with potential short-term impacts, strategic efforts are needed to bring longevity to the solutions – go beyond mere ideation and piloting, to implementation at national level. Our Innovation for Health Impact initiative aims to support Member States to find new ways of valuing and producing health through a whole-society approach – engaging all stakeholders to seek innovative solutions that can be implemented at scale for a true “moonshot” for health in the Region.

Through Innovation for Health Impact we are:

  • Sourcing diverse forms of home-grown innovative solutions adapted to local context with proven records and impact.
  • Building and nurturing innovation networks across different actors to create a health needs-driven innovation ecosystem where health priorities in the Western Pacific get adequate attention.
  • Showcasing and sharing the knowledge with the governments and supporting their implementation of innovation for health impact.

 

 

 

 

Public health innovation refers to the development of a new process, policy, product or program that increase quality, impact and efficiency.


- The Public National Center for Innovations

Member States Innovation Repository

From innovation hubs to campaigns against noncommunicable diseases and more, systematic efforts are being made by Member States to foster health innovation in the Western Pacific. The Member States Innovation Repository is a living resource of innovative efforts within the Region and is updated regularly as WHO becomes aware of new initiatives.

In compiling this resource, WHO reviewed journals and grey literature, searched bibliographic databases and web portals, and interviewed key informants to augment the knowledge base where published evidence was limited.

This is not a comprehensive list. The systematic map will expand and deepen over time as more knowledge is collected. The repository starts as an inventory of innovation for researchers and governments but aims to become a canonical starting point for those who want to see public health innovation in action in the Western Pacific.

Move your cursor over the map to explore innovation initiatives across the Western Pacific.