An investment today of an additional US $0.24 per patient per year in digital health interventions, such as telemedicine, mobile messaging and chatbots, can help save more than 2 million lives from noncommunicable diseases over the next decade, says a new report released jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and ITU (International Telecommunication Union).
This investment could also avert approximately 7 million acute events and hospitalizations, significantly reducing the strain on healthcare systems around the world.
The publication titled “Going digital for noncommunicable diseases: the case for action” has been launched at an event hosted by the Government of The Gambia during the 79th United Nations General Assembly, in collaboration with the ITU and WHO.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory diseases, are responsible for over 74% of global deaths annually, many of which are preventable. While significant progress has been made in combating NCDs, the integration of digital health technologies into mainstream health systems remains a challenge. The report shows that there is an urgent need to harness these technologies to scale up effective interventions and mitigate the growing burden on healthcare systems worldwide.
Tobacco use, unhealthy diet, the harmful use of alcohol and physical inactivity – drive responses in our bodies to up NCD risk such as blood pressure, obesity, raised blood glucose and raised cholesterol.
The report calls for countries to invest in digital public infrastructure, and promote standards and interoperability to serve as a blueprint for action.
The United Nations Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases (UN NCD Task Force) was established in 2013.
Meanwhile, at the high-level roundtable meeting in New York on the margins of the UN Summit of the Future in New York Monday, new funding was signed, and it was agreed that the partners will sit down and start identifying needs and planning health care improvements in 15 countries—Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Jordan, Maldives, Morocco, Senegal, South Sudan, The Gambia, Tunisia and Zambia.
The roundtable was attended by the partnership’s three founding MDBs – the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB)– WHO and the heads of state, as well as finance and health ministers from Djibouti, Egypt and Ethiopia.
The Asian Development Bank also attended.
The EIB and WHO signed an initial contribution of € 10 million to kick start the implementation of these investment plans.
The Islamic Development Bank and the African Development Bank are also to be signed for the contribution.
