Author: ITC_admin

Digital health sector is going to start surviving a golden age, especially after the pandemic, says digital health technical advisor Mr. Daniel Otzoy. He explains why the adoption of digital technologies in the health sector is an effective solution to reduce inequity and is happy to share that governments seek to achieve their health goals by investing more in digital health.

Find the full interview from the Global Health Equity Week here:

https://www.mobihealthnews.com/video/using-opportunity-digital-health-provides-reduce-inequity

On September 12, health ministers and delegates from 53 Europe’s states adopted the first-ever digital health action plan, confirms the World Health Organisation. This plan is a big step to improve and expand the concept of eHealth by efficiently adapting various digital tools in the health sector.

Full announcement and insights from the meeting can be found here:

https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/13-09-2022-countries-in-the-european-region-adopt-first-ever-digital-health-action-plan

In this year’s HIMSS22 APAC Health Conference & Exhibition, Singapore’s prime minister of health dr.P. Deorani shared his insights about patients’ health behaviour. He explained that even though patients know their health risks, most of them are not engaged to change their behaviour to prevent those risks. Dr. P. Deorani talked about efficient communication ways to make people want to participate in their own health management.

A link to the full article can be found here:

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/asia/digital-health-cannot-deliver-its-promise-without-patient-activation

In June, the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides, delivered a Keynote Speech at the European Patients Forum 2022. The speech focused on the proposal to set up a European Health Data Space that will support the work under Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. The European Health Data Space aims to improve health outcomes and in general the health system, through the pooling and sharing of knowledge, experience, and data.

The link to the speech and more info on the European Health Data Space can be found here:

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_22_4008

This viewpoint emphasizes the importance of improving digital health equity, a process that requires not only access to digital infrastructure but also the design of digital health solutions always considering the needs of end users. Recommendations, for digital health equity were provided in different domains, including individual, family/home, the community, services, and policies (Figure).

The link to the article can be found here:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34677577/

As part of the Project Result, we have established a literature review for each partner country to facilitate the identification of Modules related to digital skills in the health sector. Cyprus’ Literature Review revealed that there is a great space of improvement in the DESI dimensions in Cyprus, including Human capital, Connectivity, Integration of digital technology, and Digital public services. This is potentially attributed to the lack of IT talent and professionals or proper ICT skills education in all sectors. Furthermore, another study reported the lack of ICT courses within the nursing curricula in a public university, with university representatives supporting that such courses are not considered important in that context.

Here you can find the aforementioned references:

Digital Economy and Society Index 2021 Cyprus Report (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/countries-digitisation-performance)

Masouras, P.P., 2016. ICT & nursing informatics skills in Cyprus’ universities undergraduate nursing curricula. International Journal of Learning and Teaching, 2(2), pp.171-177. (http://www.ijlt.org/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=121&id=545 or https://www.academia.edu/75874051/ICT_and_Nursing_Informatics_Skills_in_Cyprus_Universities_Undergraduate_Nursing_Curricula)

Financial Mirror. 2021. Cyprus lacks IT skills to go digital. [online] Available at: https://www.financialmirror.com/2021/11/03/cyprus-lacks-it-skills-to-go-digital/ [Accessed 16 May 2022].