Event highlights
07 May 2024
Governance, socio-technical infrastructure, financing and economics, digital health solutions, and data — these five digital health domains formed the cornerstone of discussions during the vibrant Consultation on the Draft Regional Action Framework on Digital Health in the Western Pacific, held in Manila, Philippines, on 18-19 March 2024.
Representatives from 43 Member States across 22 Western Pacific countries, alongside digital health temporary advisers, observers from partner organizations, and WHO Secretariat members from WHO headquarters, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific and WHO country offices in the Region, convened to scrutinize and validate the draft Regional Action Framework and contribute their feedback on the recommended actions.
This gathering provided Member States with a significant opportunity to share insights and engage in thorough deliberations about key aspects of digital health. Through presentations, group activities, plenary sessions, and consensus-building exercises, participants thoroughly explored topics such as the potential of digital health, its dynamic evolution, crucial shifts towards people-centric healthcare through digital transformation and the importance of robust governance structures and regulatory frameworks. Member States actively contributed their feedback and deliberated on both essential and preferable recommendations spanning the five digital health domains outlined in the draft Framework.
The consultation successfully fulfilled its purpose by providing Member States with a platform to provide feedback on the draft Regional Framework, ensuring its alignment with the specific priorities and requirements of each country, thereby setting a collective vision for the Region. The updated Regional Action Framework incorporates the input, recommendations, and narratives from Member States, and it is scheduled for presentation at the seventy-fifth session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific in October 2024.
About the Regional Digital Health Action Framework for the Western Pacific
The Regional Action Agenda on Harnessing e-Health for Improved Health Service Delivery in the Western Pacific was endorsed by Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018 in order to guide and promote the adoption of electronic health (e-health) initiatives across the Western Pacific region with the primary aim of enhancing healthcare delivery and improving health outcomes.
With six years having elapsed since its inception, significant transformations have occurred in both the health landscape and digital health technologies. Following consultations with regional experts, the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific crafted a draft Regional Action Framework to support Western Pacific countries in leveraging digital health towards a future characterized by people-centric care.
Event notice
18 – 19 March 2024
WHO in the Western Pacific has been working on a renewed Regional Digital Health Action Framework for the Western Pacific, through collaboration with an expert pool from different specialized areas of digital health, and is seeking input and concurrence from all Member States on the Region.
This renewed framework comes five years since the endorsement of the Regional Action Agenda on Harnessing e-Health for improved health service delivery in the Western Pacific back in 2018. It will seek to provide institutional support to countries on 1) the development and consolidation of digital health strategies, and 2) the implementation of their action plans to achieve systematic digital health governance and planning.