Raising the profile of digital health in Latin America: The RECAINSA digital health forum and network

Otzoy-García D.; Iñigo Petralanda M.I.; Aljovin P. · Resilient Health: Leveraging Technology and Social Innovations to Transform Healthcare for COVID-19 Recovery and Beyond (2024) · DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-443-18529-8.00076-7

Resumen

The Central American Health Informatics Network (Red Centroamericana de Informática en Salud, RECAINSA) is a digital health network that brings together professionals from the health sector and digital technologies to exchange experiences related to the digital transformation in health. Their ultimate aim is to promote the region's digital transformation in health to boost universal health coverage and ensure that health services are accessible, effective, and inclusive. RECAINSA therefore joins the WHO and UN global effort to “leave no one behind” in the era of digital interdependence. In late 2021, RECAINSA launched its first Digital Health Forum, where panels of experts, keynote presentations, and workshops on digital health allowed the audience to learn about the innovative practices and successful experiences that countries are putting forward to transform their health systems. Speakers included renowned representatives from UNICEF, PAHO, WHO, USAID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as international academics, government authorities, entrepreneurs, and innovators who had designed and implemented digital health initiatives around the world. The forum included topics that ranged from digital transformation principles and governance to cybersecurity, interoperability, and the use of open source. Speakers talked about the challenges faced when implementing digital health strategies in their own countries and shared recommendations on how to overcome them. Multilateralism and cooperation between all actors was emphasized as a requirement for an effective digital transformation in health, confirming the importance of RECAINSA's role in offering such forum spaces. The following chapter provides an overview of the event and its main takeaways.