Abstract
Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), and Dr. Hamadoun Toure, Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), introduce this wonderful publication designed as a practical guide for governments, ministries, departments, and agencies in the development of national strategies to facilitate e-health.
National e-Health Strategy Toolkit is based upon enormous expertise and experience of the two organizations divided into three parts: (1) national e-health vision, (2) national e-health action plans, and (3) national e-health monitoring and evaluation. It is significant that WHO teamed with the ITU to develop this publication. Both are heavily committed to e-health. However, WHO is coming from the perspective of healthcare, versus ITU from that of telecommunications. It is abundantly clear that e-health will involve the active collaboration of health and telecommunications to develop workable, practical health programs. From the perspective of both these United Nations offices, programs must derive from central planning and national commitment. The book is not rich in references, but the authority and experience of the two organizations speak for themselves.
The premise that all e-health must emanate from the central government is not true in all parts of the world, and there are excellent examples in the United States for e-health and telemedicine programs arising in the private sector and offering services to the healthcare industry in a variety of ways. However, for most of the world there is no substitute for a well-considered national plan to address health priorities through the constitutional ministries responsible for national health. The Toolkit outlines the case of e-health and the need for a national approach. The Toolkit starts with the context and moves to concrete steps in the recruitment of early adapters and development of a plan. The assumption here is that an experimental plan can be scaled up to the national mainstream by steady and rapid evolution.
The Toolkit is comprehensive in identifying the shareholders in government, legislation, workforce, standards, and service applications. The detail of the Toolkit is remarkable. And it is comprehensive, although the book is modest in size. The elements of e-health are clearly represented in the stakeholders, and their level and purpose of interaction are clearly stated. Chapter 5 of Part 2 has a very interesting description of action lines that allow the components to intertwine and succeed with full respect of the individual sources of responsibility. The model for governance and monitoring makes it obvious how to sustain such an e-health plan by proving and demonstrating worth, keeping the program flexible and dynamic.
As the world seeks a practice delivery model that will be workable and efficient while meeting expectation, it is clear that e-health is a large part of the solution. In having a toolkit such as this, which is concise, heavily based in experience, and easy to use, WHO and ITU have made a significant contribution to success.