DHI-LAC: Digital Health in Latin America and the Caribbean

Projects / By

 An initiative to promote international cooperation for the advance of digital health and telemedicine in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

April 2019 – August 2021

In 2019, the Brazilian Telemedicine University Network, coordinated by the Research and Education Network of Brazil (RUTE/RNP), the Technological and Education Centre of the Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais (CETES/UFMG) and World Entrepreneurs (WE), Switzerland, created the initiative DHI-LAC, a collaborative partnership with a two-folded goal: (i) convening a multi-stakeholder dialogue and (ii) developing a proposal to promote global partnerships and cooperation for the advance of digital health and telemedicine in LAC, learning from similar initiatives within the region and other countries, including the BRICS and CPLP.

The initiative was jointly launched at Brazil’s Global Summit on Digital Health and Telemedicine in April 2019 in Sao Paulo, with the collaboration of the National Telehealth Coordinator from the Ministry of Health of Argentina and the Senior Adviser and Head of Health Information Systems of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). Three panels integrating key health stakeholders from the LAC, BRICS and CPLP countries were conducted to present their national and regional contexts, activities and initiatives for the development and strengthening of digital health and telemedicine, enabling the exchange of experience, key findings and recommendations that inspired new actions to strengthen regional and international cooperation in the LAC region. 

The initiative DHI-LAC, and its partners, greatly benefited from the key findings, conclusions and recommendations from the three panels, which also inspired new lines of action and a proposal to further promote international and regional cooperation for the advance of digital health and telemedicine in the LAC region. (See pg. 29-30)

Later in 2020, RUTE Brazil signed an agreement with the Latin American Cooperation of Advanced Networks, Red CLARA, to create RUTE AL, a regional network of networks,seeking for the integration of regional efforts in health in Latin America, by optimizing the role of the academic networks and the collaboration with different actors and professionals from the health sector, building on the experience of RUTE Brazil.

Inspired by RUTE AL, and in consultation with its partners and other key stakeholders, WE concluded a proposal for the DHI-LAC initiative in 2021, with the title:

“Harnessing the Power of International Cooperation and Networks for the advance of Inclusive Digital Health in LAC to achieve better Health and Prosperity for All”

In April 2021, World Entrepreneurs concluded a proposal for the DHI-LAC initiative. The proposal is inspired by the regional agreement subscribed by RUTE Brazil and Red CLARA for the creation of RUTE AL in 2020, and integrates the experience, key findings, conclusions and recommendations from key organizations in this area, as well as from all the activities, meetings, field missions and interviews conducted by Leticia Gennes (WE), Monica Pena (CETES), Laine do Santos (CETES), Luiz Ary Messina (RUTE) and Paulo Lopes (RUTE) within the context of this collaborative initiative.

A presentation based on this proposal was delivered the regional dialogue on “Scaling Digital Health in LatAm”, organized by the Brazilian Health Innovation Hub in May 2021. 

Background
The initiative DHI-LAC (initially Telehealth LAC) is the result of an extensive collaborative effort initiated in early 2017 by CETES and the founder of WE to promote cooperation for the advance of telemedicine in the LAC region, building on CETES previous experience with the implementation of a regional project financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The IDB project aimed to develop and conduct a methodological comparative assessment of the level of development of the LAC national telehealth systems, and to promote best practices

In 2017, a proposal to hold a consultative expert group meeting to nurture the initiative was financed by FINEP, a Brazilian fund that supports science and technology innovation in key sectors. Moreover, RUTE joined the collaborative effort, bringing about its wide expertise, notably in the development of the Brazilian country-wide telemedicine network of networks, as well as in international cooperation initiatives, including with the IDB project and the BRICS and the CPLP regional cooperation for the advance of telemedicine. As result of this collaborative effort, involving multiple field missions, meetings and interviews with key stakeholders in LAC and Europe, a proposal to convene a dialogue and presentthe initiative DHI-LAC was supported by the 1st edition of Brazil’s Global Summit on Digital Health and Telemedicine, held in April 2019, and the partnership was also formalized by RUTE, CETES and WE.

Links of Interest:

Proposal DHI-LAC

“Harnessing the Power of International Cooperation and Networks for the Advance of Digital Health in Latin America and the Caribbean to Achieve Better Health and Prosperity for All”, April 2021

In LAC, addressing health inequities constitutes a priority to achieve better health for all groups of the population. Health inequities refer to the unfair and avoidable differences in people’s access to basic health services, notably due to structural inequalities and inefficiencies of the health systems. Disparities in health access are also translated into disparities in health outcomes, which especially affect the most vulnerable groups of the population depending on their socio-economic and environmental conditions and cross-cutting issues, including sex, age, culture, ethnic, etc.

While the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges, it has also shown how digital health solutions and services may play a transformative role in improving the accessibility, affordability, quality, efficiency and effectiveness of essential health services, resources and information. Moreover, it has provided us with a unique scenario and opportunity to rethink long-term interventions and actions to build and strengthen integrated, human-centric and digitized health systems and infrastructures to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage and better health outcomes for all groups of the population, including in crisis.

According to a number of recent reports and articles published by relevant global and regional organizations, including WHO, PAHO, OECD, WB and IDB, the following factors and causes may be contributing to perpetuate the status quo in the LAC region:

In consultation with its partners, World Entrepreneurs concluded this proposal, following the recommendations, strategies and action plans of the key international and regional health organizations. The proposalsuggests key areas of action to inspire new partnerships and cooperation in support of the on-going regional efforts (i.e. RUTE AL) for the advance of digital health and telemedicine in LAC, and to progress towards stronger sector competitiveness, innovation-led economic growth and Health for All.

The overall goal of this proposal is to contribute to improve people’s access to affordable, timely efficient and quality essential healthcare in LAC, by supporting the advance of telemedicine and digital health, while fostering new opportunities, involving more women and diversity groups, to achieve inclusive and innovation-led sector development and growth.

This proposal suggests to optimize the power of networks and international cooperation to accelerate innovation and digital transformation for health in LAC, by focusing on (i) building capacities and supporting more and better participation of different health actors, including institutions, organizations and individuals, in international cooperation initiatives; while (ii) developing and strengthening the role of the academic and advanced networks to articulate, connect and support health actors and ecosystems, and to provide them with the services, connectivity and technological infrastructure that enable multi-sector collaboration at the national, regional and global scale.

Accordingly, it suggests 4 areas of action to build capacities, foster multi-sector-collaboration and entrepreneurship and achieve an effective regional and international agenda to support and accelerate innovation and the digital transformation process of the health sector in the LAC region as the priority to address their key health challenges and achieve better Health for All.

In closing, this proposal is a minimum viable project that suggests activities and identifies key stakeholders to inspire and facilitate cooperation.

Links of Interest: