ITU Telecom World 2009 In Review 2009 Geneva 5-9 October scription teledensity has reached 32.6% and more than 30 million people in sub-Saharan Africa access the Internet”. This is the scenario around the world where the past 5 years have seen major gains in ICT growth. The Connected Health session examined the following questions: How can we best leverage society’s rapid push in ICT to help ad-dress some of our most important challenges in health? How do we ensure that everyone can benefit? Key questions: –– How can ICTs transform health care? –– What does it take to make eHealth a reality? –– Are there differences between developed and emerging countries? –– What can be learned from other sectors? –– What specific actions are required now? And by whom? –– How much will proper eHealth cost? And, how much will it save? –– What needs to happen to accelerate the development of eHealth systems and drive their use? Summary of debate The Forum session was well attended with more than 200 participants joining the session. Attendees included representatives from governments, industry, agencies and other groups. The panellists briefly presented their perspectives, followed by a discussion which touched on a range of issues impacting eHealth development. Some points raised: In terms of reaching out to consumers, the contrast across different countries was highlighted, with some countries not yet appreciating or using health information, in contrast to others where people cannot find good information within “the flood”. There is a need to enable choice, and consumer protection measures are fundamental. From a government perspective, there is a need to ensure that health applications fit together and that applications such as telemedicine are part of the health system as a whole. 88 Forum Summary Report