New Global Digital Health Partnership

International participants from thirteen countries, Hong Kong SAR, and the World Health Organization (WHO) have kicked off a new global network to support best use of digital technology in modern healthcare.

The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, Australian Minister for Health, and the Hon. Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, welcomed the participants to the inaugural Global Digital Health Partnership (GDHP) Summit held in Canberra today.

Minister Hunt said the partnership will create a common platform for international experts to share knowledge and experiences, to network, and to forecast emerging trends to support the digital health landscape.

“Digital Health is the penicillin of our time, with precision medicine and genomics offering opportunities to cure previously incurable diseases and deliver better life saving medicine”.

The Global Digital Health Partnership is an opportunity for deep, transformational engagement by governments, digital health agencies, and the WHO so they can learn, share policy and other evidence that supports them to deliver better digital health services.

Australian Digital Health Agency CEO Tim Kelsey said that the Agency is privileged to be hosting the inaugural event.

“Australia and its international partners can learn from each other and share information about what has worked in their health settings, and collaborate on initiatives together that will support digital health systems working more effectively in their countries”.

“The partnership will help deliver actionable policy and program outcomes to both domestic and international agendas,” Mr Kelsey said.

Over the coming year, the Global Digital Health Partnership will collaborate on the following topics:

1. 1. connected and interoperable health care;
   2. cyber security;
   3. policies that support digital health outcomes;
   4. clinician and consumer engagement; and
   5. evidence and evaluation of digital health.

“It is important that guidelines created by governments and other agencies are co-produced with the needs of innovators, industries, clinicians and the community. The GDHP activities should consider the needs and input of these sectors to improve the delivery of digital health service,” Mr Kelsey said.