Health ministers and delegates from Europe’s 53 Member States recently agreed to adopt the European Union’s first-ever digital health action plan, described by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as “an ambitious agenda that will leverage digital transformation in Europe and central Asia with the aim of improving people’s health and […]
Global
WHO holds Health Hackathon in Ukraine to develop digital health solutions
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has held their “first-ever Health Hackathon” in Ukraine to find solutions for some of the challenges patients and doctors face in digital healthcare. Noting that digitalisation is “an essential step forward in strengthening health systems and public health functions”, WHO brought together more than 40 […]
WHO launches freely accessible AI digital health worker
The World Health Organization (WHO), with support from the Qatar Ministry of Health, has launched an artificial intelligence digital health worker, Florence. The AI animated digital person is said to offer “an innovative and interactive platform to share a myriad of health topics in seven languages” and “share advice on […]
University of Illinois form partnership with Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft to develop speech recognition technology
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is joining forces with giant tech leaders Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft on a Speech Accessibility Project to progress voice recognition and ensure it is more functional for people living with speech disabilities. The Speech Accessibility Project will gather a section of samples from […]
Aotearoa New Zealand publishes digital strategy action plan for 2022-2023
Aotearoa New Zealand’s digital government, focusing on how to “meet [people’s] needs using technologies, data and changes to government culture, practices and processes”, has the week published their digital strategy action plan for 2022-2023. Noting that digital technologies hold significant opportunities to foster productivity, sustainability and inclusivity, the Digital Strategy […]
Mixed reality company launches holographic scenarios for common respiratory conditions
Tech supplier GigXR, through a partnership with the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT, has launched its first augmented reality module, providing holographic scenarios for common respiratory conditions and emergencies. The mixed reality application called HoloScenarios, includes asthma, anaphylaxis, pulmonary embolism and pneumonia training scenarios, that have been […]
Tasmanian government publish plan for Digital Health Transformation
The Department of Health Tasmania has published ‘Digital Health Transformation – Improving Patient Outcomes 2022 – 2032’, setting out their plan to improve patient care, deliver better health outcomes and increase capacity in the system by investing in digital health. The document notes that the Tasmanian Health System faces structural […]
Canadian health network addressing inequity by prescribing phones to patients
The University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto, Canada, has taken a tech-based approach to tackling health inequity by prescribing mobile phones for patients who need better access to services. Entitled PHONE-CONNECT, the study and programme focuses on addressing issues such as poor COVID-19 outcomes for members of the public from […]
Good Health Pass Interoperability Blueprint released
The Good Health Pass Collaborative, a group of organisations with an aim to help restore international travel with privacy-protecting digital health passes, has published its Interoperability Blueprint, proposing a “privacy-preserving alternative to vaccination certificates.” Developed over the past six months with contributions including 125 global organisations, a set of principles and standards […]
