Introducing DIGIT Health
Mission
Help countries achieve Health SDGs by building digital public goods that strengthen public health.
What are public health campaigns?
Health risks such as infectious diseases generally cannot be addressed at the individual and health worker levels alone. They require intervention at the policy level. This is where public health campaigns come into the picture.
Public health campaigns are specific, time-bound health services that respond to particular challenges and are provided to a target population by dedicated campaign workers. Such campaigns can influence perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors to achieve the desired goal. They can prevent or respond to disease outbreaks, control or eliminate targeted diseases, or achieve other health objectives. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), two strains of wild poliovirus have “officially been certified as globally eradicated,” and immunisation campaigns have played a key role in this. Over the years campaigns to fight malaria, AIDS and other diseases have not only improved the lives of millions of people in poor and developing countries and disadvantaged communities, but it has also enabled them to lead more productive lives.
In 2019, 534 campaigns were tracked globally, providing vaccines, drugs, vitamins, and preventative tools for malaria, malnutrition, measles, meningitis, NTDs, polio, tetanus, typhoid, and yellow fever. However, by the end of 2020, an estimated 50% of the public health campaigns were postponed, suspended, or canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This left millions of people and children at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases and malnutrition.
How can eGov help?
As health campaigns catch up on missed vaccinations, drugs, and other preventative measures globally, we have an opportunity to reimagine the way countries can plan and implement campaigns through open-source digital platforms. At eGov Foundation, we believe that designing & developing a DIGIT Health Campaign Management (HCM) product will enable countries, communities, and healthcare professionals to manage and implement health programmes more effectively. This also aligns with our aim of expanding capabilities in public health by reducing “diseases of poverty” such as malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis (TB) through digital tools.
DIGIT Health Campaign Management (HCM) is a free, fit-for-purpose, open-source product, built as a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), to help countries transform public health campaigns.