e-Health in the South-East Asia

Digital health—or e-Health—is the use of information and communications technology (ICT) to improve health. e-Health innovations are key enablers for achieving and measuring universal health coverage. They can reduce healthcare costs to families, improve equitable access to quality services, efficiently link health systems with social protection programmes, and increase accountability and sustainability of health service delivery.

By improving its existing e-Health infrastructure and making strategic new investments countries can accelerate progress towards universal health coverage. Properly deployed, e-Health applications can be transformational, particularly in low resource environments, especially when they are harnessed strategically to deliver universal health coverage.

Used for measurement and accountability, e-Health applications can significantly enhance health policy because decisions are made using more reliable and sufficient data in formats and frequencies that ensure better health systems performance. 

When countries have little of their own experience to draw on, support from peers elsewhere in the region can be invaluable. The Asia e-Health Information Network (AeHIN) is a crucial peer-to-peer assistance platform to help countries successfully progress towards universal health coverage by harnessing the benefits of e-Health.