A new joint statement welcomes the digital health action plan for the WHO European Region and calls for its mindful and balanced implementation. The digital transition indeed represents an amazing opportunity which both health professionals and patients can receive benefits from. However, the introduction of this plan has to be accompanied by an accurate regulation and literacy program, otherwise, there could be the risk of getting the opposite effect, increasing health inequalities or disparity of treatments.
Awareness campaigns with the aim of increasing digital health literacy would be extremely helpful to improve the efficiency of the whole project, especially considering that people who belong to lower social classes have little access to information, are less aware of privacy issues, and are often targeted by deceiving marketing. This letter offers important points of reflection which should not be forgotten in order to ensure the diffusion of a proper digital health system such as the availability of tools and resources, therefore safeguarding privacy and accessibility. This can only be done through collective strategy and the help of Non-State Actors in building communication ways and promoting collaboration.
The statement was led by EuroHealthNet and co-signed by 28 organisations, including EPHA.
