The high-level United Nations commission to improve global reporting, oversight and accountability for women's and children’s health – the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health – was established in January 2011 to increase the likelihood that pledges for women's and children's health are honoured and that resources are spent in the most effective way to save lives. One of the ten recommendations set by the Commission encourages “Innovation through information and communication technologies (ICT) for accountability”. The World Health Organization and the International Telecommunication Union are partners in supporting this recommendation.The integration of ICT in health systems remains a target to be achieved by many countries, requiring planning at the national level, to make the best use of existing capacity while providing a solid foundation for investment and innovation. A national eHealth strategy can contribute to reaching health and development goals and, for some countries, will constitute a major step towards implementing recommendations such as those of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health.
ITU, in coordination with WHO, is inviting nominations of one representative from your Ministry to the Regional Workshop on Developing National eHealth Strategies, to be held in Manila, Philippines, 25-27 September 2013. The aim of the workshop is to bring together stakeholders from ministries of health and ICT, to raise awareness about eHealth innovations that address women’s and children’s health, and to develop participants’ understanding of the main steps to developing a national eHealth strategy.
