Recognizing WSIS Impacts

PP RESOLUTION 183 (Guadalajara, 2010)

Telecommunication/ICT applications for e-health

The Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (Guadalajara, 2010),

• considering
  • a) the definition of e-health made by Resolution 58/28 of the World Health Assembly, Geneva 2005 as “… the cost-effective and secure use of information and communications technologies in support of health and health-related fields, including health-care services, health surveillance, health literature, and health education, knowledge and research”;
  • b) that the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC) (Doha, 2006) recommended that ITU continue to study the potential of using telecommunications for e-health in order to meet the needs of developing countries;
  • c) Resolution 65 (Hyderabad, 2010) of WTDC, on improving access to healthcare services by using information and communication technologies (ICTs),
• considering further
  • a) that the World Health Organization (WHO) and ITU have a key role to promote stronger coordination among the key players in all technical areas of e-health standardization;
  • b) the need to provide effective, efficient and patient-safe clinical care using e-health ICTs;
  • c) that e-health applications and telecommunication/ICT applications supporting them are already extensive, but far from fully optimized and integrated;
  • d) the importance of maintaining momentum so that the potential advantages of telecommunication/ICT technologies in the healthcare sector are supported by appropriate regulatory, legal and policy frameworks in both the telecommunication and the health sectors,
• recognizing
  • a) the ongoing work of Study Group 2 of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D) through Question 14-3/2, on information and telecommunications for e-health;
  • b) that there are European regional initiatives to share best practices in the implementation of e-applications, including e-health;
  • c) that healthcare ICT standards was considered a high-interest subject by the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC-13);
  • d) that healthcare ICT standards need to be adapted, as necessary, to fit the context of each Member State, and that this requires a strengthening of capacity building and support;
  • e) the ongoing work in ITU-D to bridge the digital e-health divide;
  • f) the publication under ITU-D Study Group 2 Question 14-2/2 entitled “Mobile e-health solutions for developing countries”,
• resolves to instruct the Secretary-General
  • 1 to give priority consideration to the expansion of telecommunication/ICT initiatives for e-health in the work of ITU and to coordinate e-health-related activities between the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T), ITU-D and other relevant organizations;
  • 2 to continue and further develop ITU activities on telecommunication/ICT applications for e-health in order to contribute to the wider global efforts concerning e-health,
• instructs the Secretary-General, in consultation with the Directors of the Bureaux
  • 1 to identify and document examples of best practice for e-health in the field of telecommunication/ICT for dissemination among ITU Member States and Sector Members;
  • 2 to report information and developments to Member States through an appropriate mechanism;
  • 3 to coordinate on e-health-related activities with ITU-R, ITU-T and ITU-D, and in particular to promote awareness, mainstreaming and capacity building in the creation of telecommunication/ICT e-health standards, reporting findings to the ITU Council as appropriate;
  • 4 to work collaboratively on e-health-related activities with WHO and ITU-R, ITU-T and ITU-D and, in particular, develop programmes that enable developing countries to introduce e-health services safely and effectively,
• invites Member States
  • to consider developing appropriate legislation, regulations, standards, codes of practice and guidelines to enhance the development and application of e-health telecommunication/ICT services, products and terminals,
• encourages Member States and Sector Members
  • to participate actively in e-health-related studies in ITU-R, ITU-T and ITU-D through contributions and by other appropriate means.