World Health Organization

2022

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic added immense pressure to health systems and their ability to deliver health-care services, revealing gaps and weaknesses even in countries with robust health systems. While digital tools have been emerging over recent decades, the overwhelming public health challenges of the pandemic catalysed their use as an essential mechanism for not only strengthening pandemic response but also for ensuring the continuity of health-care services. In particular, the periods of restricted mobility underscored the need for telemedicine – the delivery of health-related services and information using information and communications technologies (ICTs) – as a critical driver for expanding access to services and promoting continuity of care.