A Vision For Action In Digital Health
USAID envisions a world in which advances in digital technologies are leveraged to help people access the information and services they need to live healthy and prosperous lives.
Accelerating the Journey to Self-Reliance Through Strategic Investments in Digital Technologies: A Vision for Action in Digital Health is the Agency’s first dedicated policy guidance for its investments in digital technologies that support health programs in its partner countries.
This Vision builds on prior USAID policy, including the Journey to Self-Reliance and Digital Strategy and interprets that guidance for the global health sector. It also charts a path for the implementation of the Principles of Donor Alignment for Digital Health(link is external), which USAID co-authored and endorsed in 2018.
The Vision addresses the challenges of fragmentation, and lack of sustainability and interoperability, of many digital health technologies used in USAID’s partner countries. To address these challenges the Vision outlines a systems-level approach to supporting partner countries’ health sector digital transformation.
In support of this Vision, the policy document identifies four priorities to guide related USAID planning, procurements, and programs. These are to assess and support:
- country digital health capacity,
- national digital health strategies,
- national digital health architecture, including where relevant through the use of global goods.
Fundamentally, the Vision presents a roadmap for how USAID can strategically support its partner countries as they strengthen the digital transformation of their health sectors, especially by encouraging careful planning, interoperability, strong governance, and long-term sustainability.
Our upcoming "Advancing Health Outcomes & Health System Performance with Digital Health Solutions: The Role and Opportunity for Governments, the Private Sector and Development Investors" webinar will expand upon the Vision.
Questions or comments are welcome at gh.digitalhealth@usaid.gov.