{"title":"Political determinants of digital health: beyond the rainbow.","authors":"Sara L M Davis","doi":"10.1093/heapro/daaf014","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In 2021, the World Health Organization issued its first global strategy on digital technologies and health, calling on member states to develop their own national digital health strategies. However, the normative tools that guide the development of these strategies do not prompt member states to consider how broader political factors, such as law and policy, governance, and civic engagement, could shape health outcomes in the digital age. The digital gender divide, algorithmic biases linked to race, transnational private sector actors, and more must be thoroughly addressed in future digital health strategies. Experiences from the global HIV response have demonstrated that it is possible to do this, by mobilizing diverse government and non-governmental actors to systematically assess and act to strengthen the legal and political environment for health. This essay draws on the HIV response to critically engage with recent literature on the digital determinants of health, proposing an approach to analyzing broader political determinants of health, including commercial determinants of health, and other laws, policies, governance, and civic engagement relevant to digital health strategies. By rendering visible the role of politics, governance, and civic engagement in digital health, strategies can be tools to mobilize broad collaborations and advocacy that creates an enabling environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":54256,"journal":{"name":"Health Promotion International","volume":"40 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11966192/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Promotion International","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daaf014","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HEALTH POLICY & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Political determinants of digital health: beyond the rainbow.
In 2021, the World Health Organization issued its first global strategy on digital technologies and health, calling on member states to develop their own national digital health strategies. However, the normative tools that guide the development of these strategies do not prompt member states to consider how broader political factors, such as law and policy, governance, and civic engagement, could shape health outcomes in the digital age. The digital gender divide, algorithmic biases linked to race, transnational private sector actors, and more must be thoroughly addressed in future digital health strategies. Experiences from the global HIV response have demonstrated that it is possible to do this, by mobilizing diverse government and non-governmental actors to systematically assess and act to strengthen the legal and political environment for health. This essay draws on the HIV response to critically engage with recent literature on the digital determinants of health, proposing an approach to analyzing broader political determinants of health, including commercial determinants of health, and other laws, policies, governance, and civic engagement relevant to digital health strategies. By rendering visible the role of politics, governance, and civic engagement in digital health, strategies can be tools to mobilize broad collaborations and advocacy that creates an enabling environment.
期刊介绍:
Health Promotion International contains refereed original articles, reviews, and debate articles on major themes and innovations in the health promotion field. In line with the remits of the series of global conferences on health promotion the journal expressly invites contributions from sectors beyond health. These may include education, employment, government, the media, industry, environmental agencies, and community networks. As the thought journal of the international health promotion movement we seek in particular theoretical, methodological and activist advances to the field. Thus, the journal provides a unique focal point for articles of high quality that describe not only theories and concepts, research projects and policy formulation, but also planned and spontaneous activities, organizational change, as well as social and environmental development.