⚡ Quick Summary
The article discusses the digitalization of healthcare in low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing as key enablers. It emphasizes the need for responsible governance, infrastructure, and security to create equitable and sustainable healthcare systems.
🔍 Key Details
- 🌍 Focus: Low- and middle-income countries
- 🧩 Key Enablers: Governance, infrastructure, security
- ⚙️ Technologies: AI software, quantum computing hardware
- 🤝 Partnerships: Public-private collaborations
- 📈 Goals: Achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs)
🔑 Key Takeaways
- 📊 Rising noncommunicable diseases threaten global health security.
- 💡 Digitalization is a promising countermeasure for healthcare challenges.
- 🤖 AI and quantum computing are pivotal in healthcare transformation.
- 🏆 Responsible management of key enablers is crucial for success.
- 🌐 Use cases demonstrate the potential of AI in global health.
- 📚 Inclusive analysis spans academia, industry, and practice.
- 💬 Recommendations are aimed at public health decision-makers.
- 🔄 Knowledge exchange is essential between high- and low-income countries.
📚 Background
The increasing incidence of noncommunicable diseases and the challenges posed by climate change, sovereign debt, and regional conflicts are undermining global health security. Low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of these issues, facing the highest disease burden with the least healthcare spending. In this context, the digitalization of healthcare emerges as a vital strategy to address these challenges.
🗒️ Study
This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the digitalization of healthcare in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on the role of AI and quantum computing. The authors explore three key enablers: governance, infrastructure, and security, which are essential for implementing responsible AI-enabled digitalization. The analysis draws on a wide range of theoretical perspectives and practical experiences from various sectors worldwide.
📈 Results
The findings indicate that the responsible management of governance, infrastructure, and security can significantly enhance the effectiveness of digital healthcare initiatives. The study highlights successful use cases in public-private partnerships and democratized AI, showcasing how these approaches can lead to safe, affordable, and equitable healthcare systems.
🌍 Impact and Implications
The implications of this study are profound. By leveraging digitalization and AI, low- and middle-income countries can improve their healthcare systems, making them more resilient and capable of addressing the growing burden of diseases. This transformation not only aligns with the sustainable development goals but also fosters a more equitable global health landscape.
🔮 Conclusion
The digitalization of healthcare in low- and middle-income countries represents a significant opportunity to enhance global health security. By focusing on responsible governance, infrastructure, and security, we can create equitable and sustainable healthcare systems. The future of healthcare lies in the effective integration of AI and quantum computing, and it is essential for stakeholders to collaborate in this endeavor.
💬 Your comments
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Digitalization of health care in low- and middle-income countries.
Abstract
The rising incidence of noncommunicable diseases, combined with the costs of mitigating climate change, sovereign debt and regional conflicts, is undermining global health security and threatening progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals of the United Nations. The negative impact of these polycrises is disproportionately borne by low- and middle-income countries, which have the highest disease burden and lowest health-care spending. Health digitalization is emerging as a promising countermeasure, accelerated by artificial intelligence (AI) software and quantum computing hardware. We provide a multisector critical analysis of the three key enablers – governance, infrastructure and security – of the responsible AI-enabled digitalization for safe, affordable, equitable and sustainable health-care systems in low- and middle-income countries. We consider leading use cases in public-private partnerships, democratized sovereign AI and embedded human security. Our analysis proposes that these use cases demonstrate how digital AI-accelerated global health may be advanced as human-centred managed strategic competition. We conducted our analysis through an inclusive range of theoretical perspectives and practical experience spanning academia, industry and practice across the world. We provide recommendations for the responsible management of the key enablers to accelerate global health for all. We anticipate that this paper will be useful for public health decision-makers, both in low- and middle-income countries leading local health digitalization, and in high-income countries supporting this transaction through their technologies, funding and knowledge exchange.
Author: [‘Monlezun DJ’, ‘Omutoko L’, ‘Oduor P’, ‘Kokonya D’, ‘Rayel J’, ‘Sotomayor C’, ‘Girault MI’, ‘Los Ríos Uriarte ME’, ‘Sinyavskiy O’, ‘Aksamit T’, ‘Dugani SB’, ‘Garcia A’, ‘Gallagher C’]
Journal: Bull World Health Organ
Citation: Monlezun DJ, et al. Digitalization of health care in low- and middle-income countries. Digitalization of health care in low- and middle-income countries. 2025; 103:148-154. doi: 10.2471/BLT.24.291643