Digital Health for the End TB Strategy - An Agenda for Action

This agenda outlines the strategic direction that the Global TB Programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) is mapping out to promote the integration of digital health concepts into TB prevention and care activities. The document is primarily intended to inform TB decisionmakers at national and international levels. Its alignment to the principles and the three pillars underpinning WHO’s new End TB Strategy will help them coordinate their various efforts in one common direction in the coming years.

The products and critical activities discussed in this agenda are premised upon the pressing needs and realities of TB programmes, of which three are particularly important:

• The current difficulties faced by managers and other decision-makers to match needs in TB prevention and care to the most appropriate digital health solutions. This is a result of the limited evidence base for the effectiveness of many digital health interventions for TB and the rapid advances in technologies of which potential users may be unaware.
• The need for an articulated and step-wise approach to develop comprehensive digital health solutions to support the End TB Strategy, in particular to limit fragmentation of efforts, leading for instance to multiple systems, redundancy and resource wastage.
• The opportunity to build upon, seek related synergies and align with promising ICT initiatives, both within health care and beyond, so as to increase the efficiency, scalability and sustainability of efforts.