Consultancy Service in Digital Health
In the context of their advisory service to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the GIZ Sector Initiative Global Health (SVGG) contracted GFA to provide a series of short-term services to support the SVGG in developing the digital health portfolio. The GIZ Sector Initiative Global Health (SVGG) advises the BMZ on various topics related to global health policy, such as multilateral health funds and initiatives, the containment of infectious diseases (especially HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria and Polio), universal health coverage, as well as health data and digital health.
Work Package 1: Digital Public Goods
Digital Public Goods (DPG) for health have an important role to play to address health system challenges. They are open-source tools that are usually supported by a wide range of volunteers; including in software programming.T he open source software system SORMAS (Surveillance, Outbreak Response Management- and Analysis System) is an example of a DPG which has been developed by Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) jointly with Nigeria Center for Disease Control and other partners, and has been supported by German development cooperation in a number of countries and regions, mainly in Nigeria and Ghana. Tasks of this work package is to support the newly founded SORMAS foundation in developing its business model by drawing lessons from other DPGs and advising the SORMAS foundation in the areas of governance, financial sustainability, software branching and community of practice management.
Work Package 2: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in the context of digital health. In this respect, AI is used in multiple use cases from predicting pandemic spread to automatic analysis of medical images. This work package aims to develop background documents that could guide Germanys development support to further support the integration of AI in health systems in the context of low- and middle income countries.
Work Package 3: Supporting Digital Health through multilateral engagement
Germany provides a lot of funding through multilateral funds such as the Global Fund to Fight HIV, TB and Malaria, Gavi or the ACT-A. Further, a holistic approach focused on health system strengthening rather than disease specific programming has been a long-standing pillar of German development cooperation in health. In recent years, digital health systems have been increasingly relevant for a functional health system, and with growing digitalization, fragmentation of the digital health landscape in partner countries has become one of the major threats to utilize the potential of digital solutions. This work package aims to develop strategies and approaches to leverage existing funding for multilateral partners to strenghten health systems through the use of digital tools.
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