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FIND statement on priority 3 at the first health working group of the G20 in India

Priority 3

Digital health innovations and solutions to aid universal health coverage and improve healthcare service delivery

Delivered by Willo Brock, FIND VP, External Affairs
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, 19 January 2023

    Respected delegates, on behalf of FIND, the global alliance for diagnostics, we would like to draw your attention to the role of digitally enabled diagnostic solutions in strengthening health systems and empowering individuals. We strongly commend the Indian Presidency on including, as an intended outcome, the enabling of digital health solutions as global digital public health goods, through the provision of open access software and tools.

    The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that the resilience of health systems is, to a large extent, determined by the strength of primary and community health systems which present the first point of entry for most people. Digital tools have shown success in decentralization of diagnosis to these critical levels of healthcare service delivery and move testing closer to individuals and communities.

    We have been working in collaboration with Ministries of Health, technology companies, device manufacturers and implementation partners to support AI and non-AI-based digital diagnostic tools suitable for digital infrastructure in all of its levels of development and ensure testing links to surveillance at all levels.

    Building on these and in line with the areas outlined by India’s G20 Presidency, FIND commends the concept of the creation of a corpus fund and suggests the following priorities for such a fund, accessible to both G20 and LMIC countries:

    • Support open-source interoperability systems to link digital tools to enable antimicrobial resistance (AMR)/One Health and health security surveillance at a local, regional, and global level, as was discussed yesterday.
    • Support innovation, fit for purpose for primary and community level and ensure investments made by G20 countries contain access, affordability, and tech transfer clauses to enable uptake in low- and middle-income countries.
    • Support the development, evaluation, and implementation of community-based, digitally powered models of screening and testing.

    Thank you.

    First health working group meeting of the G20

    FIND statement on AMR, surveillance and pandemic preparedness Keynote speech by FIND