Preamble

Rapidly evolving information and communication technologies (ICT) build opportunities to catalyse the impact of digital health solutions on accessibility to essential health services and help to achieve higher standards of health. The growth rate, broad potential and diversity of digital health solutions can accelerate progress towards the global health targets articulated in the thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13) (1) and the Sustainable Development Goals (2). Digital health is among four flagship initiatives of the European Programme of Work, which supports the GPW and sets out a vision for how the WHO Regional Office for Europe can better support countries to meet citizens’ expectations on health in the future (3).
The broad array of domains in which digital health concepts can be applied covers major disease programmes, including tuberculosis (TB) treatment and care. Digital health solutions have the potential to convert conventional service delivery modalities into more accessible and people-centred ones, while maintaining the same, or even greater, levels of effectiveness and efficiency. Digital health solutions are becoming more relevant in resource-limited conditions, during health emergencies and in other settings in which physical encounters with care providers are associated with challenges and constraints.
With the introduction of new TB medicines and the rapid transition towards the implementation of fully oral shorter and longer treatment regimens for drug-resistant TB (DR-TB), and considering the challenges during health emergencies, the need for implementation and scale-up of the digital health solutions is indisputable.