Transform Health’s Asks for the 78th World Health Assembly

This year’s World Health Assembly takes place during a challenging time for global health – and the development sector at large – with significant cuts to development aid and the huge ramifications this is having on health programmes and services around the world.

This year’s Assembly also comes at an important juncture in the global health timeline, with just five years left of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the target to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) by 2030. With already stagnating progress towards UHC, recent declines in development assistance for health, alongside underinvestment by governments, puts this in further peril. While we face unprecedented times, we must remain resolute in our commitment to ensure that all people receive the quality health services they need – a fundamental right of all people.

We must come together through a concerted global effort to try to shift the tide. However, this will require innovative approaches to do more with less – which is where digital tools and technological advances can play a vital role. Recent and upcoming processes provide an opportunity to stimulate collaboration and action on digital health, including: implementation of the Global Digital Compact (adopted by governments at the 2024 Summit of the Future); the extension of the current Global strategy on digital health 2020–2025 and development of a new strategy; and the next high-level meeting on universal health coverage in 2027. 

As Ministries of Health and development partners descend on Geneva for the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA78) from the 19th to 27th of May 2025, we urge them to ensure that digital health is at the forefront of discussions and decisions. 

1 – Prioritise digital health as an accelerator of UHC progress

Digitalisation can improve the efficiency of health systems, helping limited resources stretch further. Digital tools can extend the reach of health services, bringing care and services to more people. Digital devices can enable individuals to better manage their own health, reducing burden on the health system. Innovation can improve health emergency and pandemic response, thereby improving health security. Digital health is a smart investment, offering an important opportunity to help countries reach their UHC goals.

We urge governments to prioritise digital health as an accelerator of UHC progress as part of WHA78 discussions on primary health care and identifying priorities in preparation for the next high-level meeting on universal health coverage in 2027 (agenda 13.3); and on the Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025 (agenda 24.2), including:

2 – Improve investment in digital health

Digital health funding is a powerful catalytic investment. However, current investments in digital health are falling short of the long-term sustainable changes needed to build effective, stronger, more resilient health systems that can deliver UHC. At the end of 2022, Transform Health published a report, ‘Closing the digital divide: More and better funding for the digital transformation of health’, that identified  a $12.5 billion investment need over the next five years for low and lower-middle-income countries, while identifying challenges in the funding landscape. 

In addition to the need for increased investment, funding must be better coordinated, aligned with national priorities, designed for equity and sustainability, and driven by the needs of end-users and under-served populations. To optimise investment, there is also a need for improved tracking and reporting of investments – a prerequisite to quantify and close the funding gap and to direct funding to the areas of highest-priority. The 2024 G20 Health Ministers Declaration, under the Brazilian Presidency, recognised the need to improve tracking of digital health investments, calling for action from countries and development partners to support this.

We urge governments to improve investment in digital health, including by:

3 – Strengthen health data governance 

In the digital age and with the extensive use of technology, the issue of how our data – and particularly health data – is governed is a rising concern amongst populations and growing on political agendas. Data needs to be effectively and equitably governed to both maximise its use for improved health outcomes and public benefit, while protecting and mitigating its misuse. This requires ensuring the legislative and regulatory guardrails are in place to protect data and uphold people’s rights, while supporting responsible data use.

There is no global standard for legislation and regulation governing health data, with countries taking different approaches and at varied levels of maturity. There has been notable regional progress to address this issue, from commitments in regional strategies and frameworks, to regional cooperation towards a common vision. Regional and global cooperation offer important opportunities to foster learning and build country consensus and action. The development and endorsement of a global (and regional) health data governance framework would establish a level of consensus around the essential elements that should be addressed through national legislation, and would offer a more harmonised approach to foster an enabling, yet secure, environment for cross-border data sharing. The recently developed model law on health data governance (informed by equity and rights-based principles), provides an important contribution towards the development of a global framework. Such a framework would also help take forward government commitments in the Global Digital Compact, through sector-specific action. 

We urge governments to strengthen health data governance by:

Continuing discussions and action beyond WHA78

While the World Health Assembly is a critical milestone to drive global health discussions – and the largest global health gathering each year – it does not happen in isolation. Many of the same governments that will meet in Geneva in May will also meet throughout year, including at the: G20 Health working group meetings; Transform Africa Summit (July); WSIS+20 High-Level Event (July); World Health Summit (Oct); Africa HealthTech Summit (Oct); WHO Regional Committee Meetings (Aug – Oct); WHO Executive Board meeting (January); among others. Discussions and commitments that come out of WHA78, must therefore continue beyond Geneva. And importantly, they must lead to concrete actions when governments return home.