The Riyadh Declaration on Digital Health Published in The Lancet

The Riyadh Declaration on Digital Health is a call to action to create the infrastructure needed to share evidence-based best practices and high-quality, real-time data locally and globally to provide actionable information to more health systems and countries.

In medical research it can take an average of 17 years to translate a major discovery to widespread delivery. Conversely, the culture of technology revolves around disruptive innovation and the delivery of new technologies in months not years. To translate life-saving innovations in digital health into widespread applications, collaboration between health and technology researchers is essential. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in healthcare systems and global public health responses, some of which can be addressed through data and digital science.

To address this, a panel of health experts from around the world published The Riyadh Declaration on Digital Health in The Lancet. The article was formulated during Riyadh Global Digital Health Summit, a landmark forum in August 2020 that highlighted the importance of digital technology, data, and innovation for resilient healthcare systems. The expert panel articulated 7 key priorities and 9 recommendations for data and digital health to address the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and future pandemics.

Riyadh Global Digital Health Summit was a tremendously successful international scientific event attended virtually by over 300,000 people. The Summit was structured to represent all aspects of digital health and to ensure wide participation from experts around the world. The Summit was hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as one of its G20 presidency associated events, and organized by the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in collaboration with Saudi Center for International Strategic Partnerships. Leaders of healthcare systems, public health, digital health, academic institutions and businesses came together to discuss the vital role of digital health in the fight against pandemics.

A Call To Action

The Riyadh Declaration on Digital Health is a call to action to create the infrastructure needed to share effective digital health evidence-based practices and high-quality, real-time data locally and globally to provide actionable information to more health systems and countries. Digital and data technologies have a role in promoting the coordinated development of shared global public health policies and resilient health and care systems. These technologies can support health systems and governments to perform better in future pandemics and other global health challenges. The authors recommend that digital technology and innovation become the cornerstone of a resilient global healthcare system that places individual and population health at the forefront of our future endeavors.

Authors

Ths authors of the article are Bandar Al Knawy, Mahmood Adil, George Crooks, Kyu Rhee, David Bates, Hani Jokhdar, Michael Klag, Uichin Lee, Ali H Mokdad, Louise Schaper, Raed Al Hazme, Ali M Al Khathaami, Joud Abduljawad.

Dr. Bandar Al Knawy, MD, FRCPC, was President of Riyadh Global Digital Health Summit and lead author of the Riyadh Declaration on Digital Health. Dr. Al Knawy is Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of National Guard-Health Affairs and President of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Highlights from The Riyadh Declaration on Digital Health

7 Key Priorities

1. Promote thriving digital health technologies and their role in enabling public health solutions in the fight against the pandemics.
2. Enhance digital health technology in monitoring, surveillance, detection and prevention of COVID-19.
3. Empower the role of digital health in mitigation of COVID-19 impact on the healthcare system delivery.
4. Advance joint efforts in developing equitable and widely used digital technologies in tackling current and future viral pandemics.
5. Cultivate the knowledge, skills and training in digital technologies in order to face future public health challenges.
6. Foster the responsible and well-governed use of digital health data in fighting COVID-19 in order to maintain the public trust and best cybersecurity practices.
7. Pave the path towards multilateral organization strategic partnerships road map for digital health regarding pandemic crisis off-set.

9 Recommendations

1. Implement data-driven and evidence-based protocols for clear and effective communication with common messaging to build citizens' trust.
2. Work with global stakeholders to confront propagation of misinformation or disinformation through social media platforms and mass media.
3. Implement a standard global minimum dataset for public health data reporting and a data governance structure tailored to communicable diseases.
4. Ensure countries prioritize digital health, particularly, improving digital health infrastructure and reaching digital maturity.
5. Enable healthcare organizations by providing the necessary technology to collect high-quality data in a timely way and promote sharing to create health intelligence.
6. Cultivate a health and care workforce with the knowledge, skills, and training in data and digital technologies required to address current and future public health challenges.
7. Ensure surveillance systems combine an effective public health response with respect for ethical and privacy principles.
8. Develop digital personal tools and services to support comprehensive health programs in disease prevention, testing, management, and vaccination globally.
9. Maintain, continue to fund, and innovate surveillance systems as a core component of the connected global health system for rapid preparedness and optimal global responses.

About the Article

The Lancet, Volume 396, Issue 10262,?P1537-1539, Published: September 22, 2020

Title: The Riyadh Declaration: the role of digital health in fighting pandemics

Authors: Bandar Al Knawy, Mahmood Adil, George Crooks, Kyu Rhee, David Bates, Hani Jokhdar, Michael Klag, Uichin Lee, Ali H Mokdad, Louise Schaper, Raed Al Hazme, Ali M Al Khathaami, Joud Abduljawad.

DOI:?https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31978-4

About Riyadh Global Digital Health Summit

Riyadh Global Digital Health Summit in August 2020 welcomed over 30 speakers and 300,000 attendees from all over the world. The Virtual Forum was organized by the Ministry of National Guard and the G20 Saudi Secretariat in collaboration with Saudi Center for International Strategic Partnerships. H.E. Minister of Health in Saudi Arabia chaired the Riyadh Declaration session. Speakers and panelists included the World Health Organization Director of Digital Health & Innovation (CIO), NHS Digital Data, Insights and Statistics Executive Director, Australia’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer and IBM’s Chief Health Officer are among the line-up of top expert speakers, including scientists from the world’s leading universities.

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Copyright ? 2021 Margaretta Colangelo. All Rights Reserved.

This article was written by?Margaretta Colangelo.?Margaretta is a leading AI analyst based in San Francisco. She serves on the advisory board of the AI Precision Health Institute at the University of Hawai?i?Cancer Center.?

Twitter?@realmargaretta