Towards National eHealth Implementation--a comparative study on WHO/ITU National eHealth Strategy Toolkit in Iran

Abstract

Experiences has shown that utilization of ICT in health sector requires national commitment and planned efforts to make the best use of existing capacity. Establishing the main directions as well as planning the detailed steps needed are key to achieving longer-term goals such as health sector efficiency, reform or more fundamental transformation. Collaboration between the health and ICT sectors, both public and private, is central to this effort. As the major United Nations agencies for health and telecommunications respectively, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) have recognized the importance of collaboration for eHealth in their global resolutions, which encourage countries to develop national eHealth strategies; the National eHealth Strategy Toolkit is the proof of these recommendations. In this study a mapping of eHealth components in WHO/ITU National eHealth Strategy Toolkit and our national eHealth vision is presented.