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Review
. 2022 Mar:14:100316.
doi: 10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100316. Epub 2022 Feb 3.

The dawn of digital public health in Europe: Implications for public health policy and practice

Brian Li Han Wong  1   2   3   4 , Laura Maaß  3   5   6 , Alice Vodden  3   7   8 , Robin van Kessel  9   10 , Sebastiano Sorbello  3   11   12 , Stefan Buttigieg  3   13 , Anna Odone  3   11   12 ; European Public Health Association (EUPHA) Digital Health Section
Affiliations
Review

The dawn of digital public health in Europe: Implications for public health policy and practice

Brian Li Han Wong et al. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2022 Mar.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of digital health technologies and the role of effective surveillance systems. While recent events have accelerated progress towards the expansion of digital public health (DPH), there remains significant untapped potential in harnessing, leveraging, and repurposing digital technologies for public health. There is a particularly growing need for comprehensive action to prepare citizens for DPH, to regulate and effectively evaluate DPH, and adopt DPH strategies as part of health policy and services to optimise health systems improvement. As representatives of the European Public Health Association's (EUPHA) Digital Health Section, we reflect on the current state of DPH, share our understanding at the European level, and determine how the application of DPH has developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also discuss the opportunities, challenges, and implications of the increasing digitalisation of public health in Europe.

Keywords: DPH, Digital public health; Digital health; Digital public health; Digital transformations; EUPHA, European Public Health Association; Europe; GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation; ICT, Information and communications technologies; NHS, National Health Service; PHWF, Public health workforce; Public health; RCT, Randomised control trial; UHC, Universal health coverage; UK, United Kingdom; UN, United Nations; UNICEF/ERACO, United Nations Children’s Fund/Europe and Central Asia Regional Office; WHO, World Health Organization.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf and declare: no support from any organisation for the submitted work (except the research grants listed in funding); no financial relationships with any organisations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

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