Digital health and telemedicine

• Digital health, powered by information and communication technologies (ICTs), is revolutionizing healthcare delivery by enabling remote diagnostics, personalized treatments, and data-driven decision-making, while also empowering patients with new tools to manage their health. Through innovations like artificial intelligence (AI)-driven diagnostics, IoT-enabled wearable devices, telemedicine platforms, and blockchain-secured health records, ICTs bridge gaps in accessibility, efficiency, and equity.
• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital health solutions, highlighting their role in crisis response and routine care. Reliable network and digital infrastructure are of paramount importance to health services. ICT solutions can play a transformative role in improving healthcare access and quality.
• A wide range of work on digital health is under way by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), including developing e-health standards, building institutional capacity, designing and piloting innovative solutions, and supporting governments in scaling up countrywide digital health interventions. ITU conducts these activities in close collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) aiming to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all people at all ages.

• The development and integration of digital health solutions can accelerate progress toward achieving universal health coverage and make a significant contribution to broader socioeconomic development.
•  According to the latest SDG progress report, the world is off track for reaching Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good health and well-being), including target 3.4 on reducing premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases. Findings from the 2024 report by WHO and ITU suggest that implementing digital health interventions such as telemedicine, mobile messaging, and chatbots to prevent and manage noncommunicable diseases can save more than two million lives and avert some seven million acute health events and hospitalizations over the next 10 years, generating significant economic gains (estimated at USD 199 billion) through cost savings and preservation of labour force.
• Digital health solutions have demonstrated their potential to build health-system resilience and ensure health-service continuity during large-scale disease outbreaks. According to the 2020 WHO Global Pulse Survey, more than 60 per cent of countries resorted to digital health solutions to mitigate disruptions in health-service delivery during the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• ​Moreover, digital health and virtual care are poised to deliver more personalized and proactive health care, empowering both patients and healthcare providers in unprecedented ways. These solutions equip patients and medical professionals with tools to monitor health more effectively, such as advanced wearables and telehealth platforms. The application of AI and big data can assist in predictive analytics, decision-making, medical innovation and research, as well as precision medicine, while blockchain technology has the potential to improve data security, streamline interoperability, and facilitate more efficient healthcare management systems.​

​While digital health holds immense potential, its widespread adoption faces challenges and risks that must be addressed to ensure equitable and effective implementation. Key challenges include:

• Connectivity and network infrastructure: In many regions, especially rural and underserved areas, poor Internet connectivity and limited network infrastructure hinder the delivery of digital health services. According to the 2024 ITU Facts and Figures report, an estimated 2.6 billion people remain offline worldwide. Internet access is 93 per cent in high-income countries versus only 27 per cent in low-income countries. Connectivity remains a major challenge to expansion of digital health in Least Developed Countries and Landlocked Developing Countries, where only 35 per cent and 39 per cent of the population are online, respectively.
• Policy and regulation: Inconsistent policies and regulatory frameworks across countries create barriers to the seamless integration of digital health solutions. Lack of standardized regulations, data privacy laws, and oversight mechanisms can slow the development and adoption of digital health technologies.
• Safety and security: The increased use of digital platforms for healthcare raises concerns about the safety and security of patient data. Cybersecurity risks, data breaches, and unauthorized access to sensitive health information can undermine public trust and pose significant risks to patient confidentiality.
• Interoperability is the ability of different systems, devices, applications, or organizations to work together and exchange information seamlessly. The lack of interoperability between digital health systems can hinder the effective exchange of patient data across different platforms. Without standardized formats and seamless data sharing, healthcare providers may struggle to obtain complete patient histories, leading to fragmented care and inefficiencies.
• Affordability: While digital health technologies can provide cost-effective solutions, setup and operational costs can be prohibitive, particularly in low-income regions. The affordability of digital health services, including devices, Internet access, and specialized training, remains a significant barrier for many populations. In low-income countries, for example, fixed broadband costs nearly a third of the average monthly income, based on ITU estimates. Additionally, the cost of deploying and using many novel and emerging technologies for health (e.g. AI for health) remains prohibitively expensive, as reported by global health stakeholders.
• Institutional capacity: Many healthcare institutions, especially in developing countries, lack the technical infrastructure and human resources to implement and manage digital health services effectively. Without proper institutional capacity and support, the successful adoption of digital health is often limited.
• Disparities in access to devices and skills: Access to digital health solutions is often unequal, particularly when it comes to the availability of smartphones, computers, and Internet access. Mobile phone ownership remains unequal between the populations of high-income (95 per cent) and low-income (56 per cent) countries, and between male (82 per cent) and female (77 per cent) populations. Furthermore, the digital-literacy divide means that many individuals, especially in low-income communities, may not have the skills to fully utilize digital health tools.​​
  

ITU is advancing digital health by supporting governments and institutions in rolling out needs-based services and addressing barriers to effective implementation.

Key initiatives include:​​

• Preventive health messaging campaigns: The joint WHO-ITU Be He@lthy, Be Mobile (BHBM) initiative delivers WHO-curated health advice and behavior-change messaging via mobile devices to raise awareness and help people reduce common health risk factors. Since 2012, BHBM has conducted 17 campaigns in 17 countries across four regions, reaching over 3.5 million people. More campaigns are under development.
• Telemedicine solutions: As part of rural digital development initiatives such as Smart Villages and Smart Islands, telemedicine is being deployed for remote screenings, diagnostics, and consultations in resource-constrained rural areas, extending coverage to thousands across communities in Africa and Asia Pacific.
• Pandemic and disease-outbreak response: During COVID-19, platforms and partnerships facilitated risk communication to hundreds of thousands of individuals, delivering validated COVID-19 information through multiple communication channels.

To address key barriers to digital health, ITU is also:

• Supporting the development of enabling network and digital infrastructure. Reliable connectivity is a fundamental building block for digital health systems, particularly in remote or underserved areas. Initiatives like Smart Villages and Smart Islands, Giga, and others are improving connectivity. Strategic, data-driven guidance and insights are enabling the planning and rollout of broadband networks and last mile connectivity solutions. Initiatives like GovStack support digitalization of health and other public services.
• Helping governments and institutions develop and adopt policies and regulations. Products to promote digital health systems which are safe, reliable, and inclusive include the WHO-ITU Global Standard for Accessible Telehealth Services; the WHO-ITU Implementation Toolkit for Accessible Telehealth Services; the National eHealth Strategy Toolkit; and the Digital Health Platform Handbook.
• Promoting affordable open-source solutions and digital frameworks. The Open Source Ecosystem Enabler project empowers local stakeholders to adopt and contribute to open-source technologies, strengthening digital ecosystems and enabling the sustainable digital transformation of health systems.
• Facilitating knowledge exchange and best-practices sharing. ITU Study Groups provide opportunities for members to share experiences, exchange ideas, and build consensus on strategies. ITU-D Study Group 2 covers telecommunications/ICTs for e-services, including e-health.
• The Global Initiative on AI for Health (GI-AI4H), established by WHO, ITU, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), provides long-term support for the implementation of AI in health care, enabling safe, equitable, and evidence-based AI solutions.

Next steps

• ​ Feedback: Users can submit suggestions via ITU Digital Health Portal.
• Collaboration: Governments/non-governmental organizations (NGOs) may join the Digital Health Alliance for co-development projects.