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Launch of WHO Classification of Digital Health Interventions v1.0

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Dear Colleagues,

Apologies for the cross posting.

It gives me great pleasure to Announce the Launch of the World Health Organization Classification of Digital Health Interventions v1.0: A shared language to describe the uses of digital technology for health.

Please find PDF versions of the publication and associated classifications “poster” here

The classification of digital health interventions (DHIs) categorizes the different ways in which digital and mobile technologies are being used to support health system needs. Targeted primarily at public health audiences, this Classification framework aims to promote an accessible and bridging language between technologists and those in health, to facilitate discussions and ways of articulating needs, as well as to describe functionalities represented in digital health system implementations. This document serves as a prelude to the upcoming WHO Guidelines on Digital Health Interventions for Health Systems, providing the underlying framework of units for evidence analysis and synthesis, and upon which formal recommendations will be made. Furthermore, the classification content aligns with the structure of the global registry of technology implementations for health, the Digital Health Atlas for registering, monitoring, and inventorying digital solutions and implementations within countries.

The WHO Classifications of Digital Health Interventions v1.0 is the result of a multi-year process of development and refinement guided by a panel of global experts, including those from the Health Data Collaborative Digital Health and Interoperability Working Group. WHO is grateful for their extensive contributions that led to this release. As this is a versioned document, we encourage those with recommended improvements and additions, to please provide feedback to Dr Garrett Mehl (mehlg@who.int) and Tigest Tamrat (tamratt@who.int). Periodically, new versions will be released.   

    

We hope the Classifications document brings greater clarity of understanding among the diversity of stakeholders who contribute to ensuring the benefits of digital health are for all.

On behalf of staff from the WHO Departments of Reproductive Health and Research and Service Delivery and Safety who coordinated the development of the document. Thank you,

Garrett  

___________________

Garrett Mehl, PhD, MHS

Scientist, Digital Health Research

Department of Reproductive Health and Research, includes

HRP - the UNDP/UNFPA/UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research in Human Reproduction 

World Health Organization