December 2023: CGDHI@Global Digital Health Forum 2023

Session on: What doesn't get measured, doesn't get counted": Enhancing metrics for measuring digital inclusion
Contributed by: Isis Gomes, MPH student, Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH); current CGDHI research assistant; former primary care coordinator

"I learned a lot about how digital inclusion is measured and the caveats of current frameworks. It is a discussion that could be on Brazil’s agenda because of the MoH’s effort to put together the National Network of Healthcare Data, a national data lake—or repository of raw data—to  exchange information between citizens and public and private healthcare facilities. The Network will connect with the most downloaded healthcare data mobile app in the world, ConecteSUS. The speakers proposed a workshop on how research and interventions can prioritize digital skills to assess digital inclusion. I noticed how digital abilities are still mainly PC-oriented, instead of mobile-based, which makes little sense in low and middle-income countries. The debate on digital safety awareness offered a lot of food for thought too, showing how safety depends on data literacy, for example, the ability to differentiate between promoted content and other types of content." 

Session on: From Blueprints to Practice: Perspectives on Health System Digitalization
Contributed by: Katya Saksena, MPH student, Bloomberg School of Public Health; current CGDHI research assistant; former physician

We learned about the current digital health landscape in several low- and middle-income settings through an informative panel hosted by Merrick Schaefer from USAID. We heard from senior digital health officials from the governments of Ghana, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, and Haiti. It was interesting to learn about Ghana’s investments in digitizing health records, Senegal’s National Strategic Plan for Digital Health, and Indonesia’s digitization of health records across 10,000+ health facilities. The speakers raised key concerns regarding the fragmentation of funding for projects and the need for comprehensive government financing to build infrastructure for a digitally transformed health system.

Session on: Digital Technology and Data for Health and Human Development: Getting Implementation Right

Contributed by: Fonthip Watcharaporn, MPH student, Bloomberg School of Public Health (BSPH); current physician; former Assistant Director at the Institute for Urban Disease Control and Prevention, Ministry of Public Health Thailand

We learned about the importance of a multi-sectoral approach to digitization, spanning areas such as digital infrastructure, platforms, agriculture, and health. This approach is vital not just for supporting health workers but also for fostering the growth of human capital and job opportunities. The session also highlighted significant challenges including the lack of a skilled digital health workforce, governance issues, and the need for effective standards and interoperability in digital health systems. Additionally, the rise of AI in healthcare was discussed, noting its potential benefits and associated challenges, such as ethical considerations, data privacy, and the need for international standards and regulations.

Session on: Individual Presentation: Precision messaging in Go Nisha Go™: Individualizing the gaming experience

Contributed by: Yaseer Khanani, MPH student, Bloomberg School of Public Health; current Senior Product Manager at Reading Partners

The session introduced a video game called Go Nisha Go, designed to prepare adolescent girls in India to handle intimate relationships and manage conversations with family around marriage. The session presenter, the co-founder and managing director of Howard Delafield International said that this game aims to reduce unintended early marriage and pregnancy, allowing girls to fulfill their education and pursue their careers. The game displayed impressive results. An RCT showed that girls’ knowledge of the fertile period rose from 28% to 77% and their self-efficacy to delay marriage rose from 54% to 75%.

Session on: Last Mile is Complex? Last Mile Made Easy!

Contributed by: Ghulam Mohammad Paracha, MHS student, Bloomberg School of Public Health; Founder, The Healthcare Talk and Machine Learning Annotationist at Overjet.AI

We learned about the vital role of efficient pharmaceutical supply-chain management in challenging environments through International Medical Corps' workshop. Their solution, the Pharmaceutical Information Management System (PIMS), is a flexible and integrated tool designed to enhance operational efficiency and patient care, especially in remote settings. During a hands-on experience, attendees witnessed the remarkable efficiency of PIMS, which enabled the completion of the entire prescription and receipt process in just 8 seconds. The workshop not only described how to address challenges in healthcare logistics but also resonated with my personal career goals of using digital health solutions to address healthcare problems faced by LMICs.

Session on: Mobile data collection on FHIR with Android FHIR SDK

Contributed by: Ma. Paulina Francesca Del Mundo Del Fierro, MPH student, Bloomberg School of Public Health; former telehealth policy consultant at University of the Philippines, Manila

What if we were able to access and synchronize crucial data in a patient’s clinical history from different medical facilities? This vision is made closer to reality by Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), now made even easier to implement. In a fascinating discussion, Fred Hersch and Jing Tang of Google discussed open source developer tools for Android FHIR SDK that are now available to accelerate the adoption and incorporation of FHIR into Android applications. The Android FHIR SDK has been developed in alignment with the World Health Organization’s SMART Guidelines, based on the FHIR Clinical Guidelines Implementation Guide. It is exciting to witness the possibilities of much-improved speed for building interoperable digital health solutions that bridge data to the point of care.