WHO: Future of Europe Hinges on Digital Health

Building trust between nations and investing in digital health technology are key to the transformation of healthcare across Europe, said Hal Wolf, HIMSS President & CEO and keynote speaker at a World Health Organization session.

Wolf touched on strategies to advance digital health for equity in the region and the world at the at the 72nd Session of WHO Regional Committee for Europe on Sept. 12 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

“It’s truly a great honor to be asked to speak at WHO,” Wolf said. “It’s also a great privilege that WHO has tapped HIMSS’s expertise in building capacity for digital health.”

An international health advocate, HIMSS offers depth and breadth of experience in health innovation, public policy, workforce development, research, and digital health transformation.

“With finite resources to serve 8 billion people on Earth, this is the way of the future,”

Wolf said. “We partner with nations around the world to reform the global health ecosystem through the power of information and technology.”

HIMSS is entering into a memorandum of understanding with WHO-Europe Region. The agreement will form a transatlantic partnership on digital health and monitor its growth in the area. In a show of commitment, HIMSS is also opening a regional headquarters in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

A world leader in the movement for high-quality care for all, HIMSS supports the European Union’s flagship initiative to create a European Health Data Space; and hosts the Digital Health Advisory Group in Europe. Its goal is health equity and better outcomes through cooperative use of data and shared standards among private and public sectors, from one country to the next. Benefits of digital healthcare ecosystem were evident in the wake of COVID-19 and will continue to better serve the world’s population.