Global Observatory for eHealth

eHealth is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for health. It is recognised as one of the most rapidly growing areas in health today.

The Fifty-eighth World Health Assembly in May 2005, adopted Resolution WHA58.28 establishing an eHealth strategy for WHO. The resolution urged Member States to plan for appropriate eHealth services in their countries. That same year, WHO launched the Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe), an initiative dedicated to the study of eHealth—its evolution and impact on health in countries. The Observatory model combines WHO coordination regionally and at headquarters to monitor the development of eHealth worldwide, with an emphasis on individual countries. Recognizing that the field of eHealth is rapidly transforming the delivery of health services and systems around the world, WHO is playing a central role in shaping and monitoring its future, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

The Observatory’s mission is to improve health by providing Member States with strategic information and guidance on effective practices and standards in eHealth.

Its objectives are to:

• provide relevant, timely, and high-quality evidence and information to support national governments and international bodies in improving policy, practice, and management of eHealth;
• increase awareness and commitment of governments and the private sector to invest in, promote, and advance eHealth;
• generate knowledge that will significantly contribute to the improvement of health through the use of ICT; and
• disseminate research findings through publications on key eHealth research topics as a reference for governments and policy-makers.

FUTURE GOALS

The Observatory aims to create and deliver the following products and services in support of the worldwide development and understanding of eHealth.

• Establish a research network—expand the GOe operations to include National Observatory Groups, Regional Observatory Groups and thematic working groups on specific eHealth topics, as well as streamline data collection and reporting through the use of ICT.
• Develop a framework for analysis—design a comprehensive framework to uniformly describe and analyse eHealth at all levels—sub-national, country, regional and global.
• Establish indicators for monitoring—develop and agree on indicators to measure eHealth within and across countries.
• Promote best practices—collect, assess and publish evidence to assist countries in adopting best practices.
• Policy—evaluate the impact of national policy, regulations and legislation on eHealth, and assess the impact of eHealth on health systems.
• Report—publish reports on special areas of interest in eHealth.

Operational Structure of the Observatory

The figure illustrates the operational structure of the GOe, whose secretariat was established in 2005. The Secretariat is based at WHO headquarters in Geneva and works with active input and support of its regional counterparts in all six WHO regions.Two meetings of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE), were held in 2005 and 2006 while the group is in the process of being formalized. The advisory group comprises experts from both the public and private sectors and represents eHealth practitioners and researchers from across the globe.

National Observatory Groups (NOGs) and the thematic working groups are vital to the long-term success of the GOe. As they grow, NOGs will form the extended and decentralized research and reporting network of the Observatory by developing instruments for country-specific data collection and monitoring. They will also collect of data globally. Thematic working groups will be established in strategically important areas such as eHealth policy; security and citizen protection; equity of access and multilingualism; eLearning; and telehealth. These will change with time, and where possible, the GOe will collaborate with existing groups.

Thematic working groups will be established in strategically important areas such as eHealth policy; security and citizen protection; equity of access and multilingualism; eLearning; and telehealth. These will change with time, and where possible, the GOe will collaborate with existing groups at both the regional and country levels.