Consultation on Digital Health Societies
Digital health is a potential set of tools and instruments within processes to tackle inequities. Digital health offers the advantage of increasing access to disadvantaged populations. However this is not only about access to services, but also an opportunity for empowerment, balancing collective rights (to organise systems for States, Authorities and providers) with individual rights (rights to care, treatment, protection and prevention as set out in the EU Treaty, Charter of Fundamental Rights and potential EU Pillar of Social Rights).
In that context digitalisation of health and care systems could be a key trigger for removing health inequalities, as foreseen in the 2009 EU Communication Solidarity in Health; in the UN Agenda 2030 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in the evidence and recommendations of the WHO Commission for Social Determinants of Health (SDH).
EuroHealthNet, the European Partnership for sustainable health promotion, wellbeing and social equity, has identified technological changes as one of the ten greatest priorities to be embraced and applied by public health and health promotion sectors towards 2030 objectives. EuroHealthNet is working with its national and regional members, EU Institutions and WHO Europe on sustainable health systems, health information systems, data use, health determinants and health literacy.
Read our consultation response here.