The Lancet and Financial Times partner for first joint Commission on Governing health futures 2030: Growing up in a digital world (FOTO)

Genf (ots) – Digital and data tools and technologies are changing approaches to health and the design of health systems, but governance models have not followed the pace of innovation. The Lancet has partnered with the Financial Times for a joint Commission entitled Governing health futures 2030: Growing up in a digital world, launched at the Charité medical university in Berlin, Germany.

This Commission will explore the convergence of digital health, artificial intelligence, and other frontier technologies with universal health coverage, focusing on the health of children and young people. The Lancet are the convenors of the Commission, and the Financial Times will support the Commission by hosting parallel convenings with the business community, which can inform the findings of this work.

Given its crosscutting nature, the Commission is supported by independent Commissioners with expertise across medicine, social sciences, e-health, big data analytics, mental health, policy, economics, research, and more. The Commission is co-chaired by Professor Ilona Kickbusch, Chair of the International Advisory Board at the Global Health Centre of The Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, and Dr Anurag Agrawal, Director of the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi, India.

„The digital transformation is proceeding at an enormous speed, and we have found, in the lead up to the Commission, that children and young people are practically invisible in a lot of this discussion. We feel that their rights, their health, and their future need to be discussed, also with children and young people themselves,“ Kickbusch said.

The Commission will look particularly at children and young people in a digital age, seeking to identify specific instruments to safeguard their rights, as well as opportunities to engage in this discussion. More than three billion people are under the age of 30, and 1.8 billion of these people are between the ages of 10 and 24. These young people may be the first to demand and gain a clear set of rights in relation to rapid technological development for their health and well-being.

In attendance at the launch, German Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn said, „Digitalisation in health care is a key topic on the national and global agenda. New digital technologies open up a variety of opportunities with the potential to enable access and improve the quality and efficiency of health care worldwide. That is why Germany is currently putting in a lot of effort to take up speed in the national implementation process to introduce our Digital Health Infrastructure. Our aim is to create a digital ecosystem which brings different sectors and views together. The international and interdisciplinary composition of the Commission reflects this integrated approach. We are pleased to host their first meeting in Berlin.“

Integration of digital technologies and artificial intelligence to support the achievement of universal health coverage and health equity is a consideration of the Commission, as well as investigating the concerns about data ownership and privacy. „Equitable opportunity for accessing and using health data, while respecting individual privacy, is central to providing effective and universal health coverage at a global scale. The guiding principle of such data democratization should be – of the people, by the people, for the people,“ said Agrawal, who also spoke at a pre-launch panel on ‚Health Data as a Global Public Good‘ at the World Health Summit on Tuesday, 29 October.

The first Commissioners meeting began this afternoon and will continue until tomorrow, 31 October, in a closed, all-day session. The report is expected for end of 2021. The Commission is funded by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Fondation Botnar, and the Wellcome Trust.

For more information, visit
https://www.governinghealthfutures2030.org/ and follow the
conversation on Twitter @GHFutures2030.

The Lancet

Founded in 1823, the Lancet family of world-class journals is committed to improving lives through medical research. With offices in London, New York, and Beijing, The Lancet publishes a weekly journal and monthly specialty journals in the fields of child & adolescent health, diabetes & endocrinology, digital health, gastroenterology & hepatology, global health, haematology, HIV, infectious diseases, neurology, oncology, planetary health, psychiatry, public health, respiratory medicine, and rheumatology. https://www.thelancet.com/about-us

Financial Times

The Financial Times (FT) is one of the world’s leading business news organisations, recognised internationally for its authority, integrity, and accuracy. The FT has a record paying readership of one million, three-quarters of which are digital subscriptions. It is part of Nikkei Inc., which provides a broad range of information, news and services for the global business community. https://www.ft.com/

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation

The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) is an independent philanthropic organisation, with offices in Addis Ababa, Beijing, London, Nairobi and New Delhi. Established in 2003, CIFF works with a wide range of partners seeking to transform the lives of children and adolescents in developing countries. Areas of work include maternal and child health, adolescent sexual health, nutrition, education, deworming, tackling child slavery and exploitation, and supporting smart ways to slow down and stop climate change. https://ciff.org/

Fondation Botnar

Fondation Botnar is a Swiss-based foundation which champions the use of AI and digital technology to improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people in growing urban environments. To achieve this, the foundation supports research, catalyses diverse partners, and invests in scalable solutions around the world. https://www.fondationbotnar.org/ Wellcome Trust Wellcome exists to improve health by helping great ideas to thrive. We support researchers, we take on big health challenges, we campaign for better science, and we help everyone get involved with science and health research.  We are a politically and financially independent foundation. https://wellcome.ac.uk/

World Health Summit

The World Health Summit (WHS), organised by Europe’s largest university hospital, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, is the annual conference of the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies. The WHS aims to improve health all over the planet by facilitating collaboration and open dialogue across all relevant stakeholders and steering tomorrow’s agenda to improve research, education, healthcare and policy outcomes. https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/

Global Health Centre, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies is an institution of research and higher education dedicated to the study of world affairs, with a particular emphasis on the cross-cutting fields of international relations and development issues. The Global Health Centre is the Graduate Institute’s research centre on global health governance and diplomacy, and hosts Commission’s Secretariat.
https://graduateinstitute.ch/globalhealth

Digital press kit: http://www.ots.at/pressemappe/DE137727/aom