CHIKWE IHEKWEAZU Chikwe Ihekweazu is assistant director-
aid and performing other vital actions. Ultimately, this could significantly affect our ability to effectively respond to local outbreaks, epidemics or even pandemics. Harnessing the power of open source solutions became a promising intervention, proving to be adaptable and effective for the monitoring, surveillance, detection and prevention of Covid-19. Among these solutions, CommCare and the Community Health Toolkit were rapidly customised to align with pandemic needs. They did not reinvent the wheel but rather built upon past experiences, including the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa. Another exemplar, the Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System, was quickly adapted by integrating a Covid-19 disease module. This was made available to countries that already had SORMAS as part of their surveillance infrastructure. One of our key objectives at the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, aligned with the WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020–2025, is to promote global collaboration and sharing of digital health knowledge and expertise. Characterised by open accessibility to source code and a collaborative development approach, open source solutions promise inclusivity for software developers worldwide. This approach encourages developers from diverse parts of the world to contribute to locally and globally adopted digital solutions, promoting adaptability and enhanced support services. Embracing open source provides pathways for collaborative innovation, underscoring the potential for equitable growth across countries.
FOR SUSTAINABLE PROGRESS In the context of a rapidly evolving world with increasing risks of health emergencies, interoperability and technology reuse stand as keystones for sustainable progress in digital health. Interoperability standards enable the seamless data exchange across disparate systems, embedding digital health solutions into existing technological ecosystems and securing their versatility across different contexts. The WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, embedded in the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, launched the first Open Source Programme Office in the United Nations system. Our goal is to champion the development and adoption of open source solutions for pandemic and epidemic responses. The OSPO steers the course by offering open source collaboration frameworks, advisory services for building open source contributor communities, and managing potential open source software-associated risks. In developing and promoting environments that encourage collaboration among innovators and experts, it is important that we break down existing barriers and unite fragmented endeavours within the realm of pandemic and epidemic intelligence. Only through such multifaceted collaboration, which includes using open source solutions, can we ensure the seamless integration of pandemic and epidemic response systems into the existing framework of health systems. This united front is part of our commitment to global health security. ▪
general at the World Health Organization for surveillance and health emergency intelligence and leads the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence
in Berlin. He was the first director-general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, from 2016 to 2021. He was previously interim director of the West Africa Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control, and has held senior public health and leadership positions, including in the South African National Institute for Communicable Diseases, the United Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute. X-TWITTER Chikwe_I pandemichub.who.int
SAMUEL MBUTHIA Samuel Mbuthia leads the Open Source Programme Office at the World Health Organization Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence. He
is experienced in building open source communities of practice across Africa and Asia, as well as training software developers to build open source applications that support community health workers in low resource settings. He has a background in software development and managing information systems. X-TWITTER samkmbuthia
MALA KUMAR Mala Kumar is a senior adviser to the World Health Organization Open Source Programme Office, and the former director of Tech for Social
Good at the Microsoft-owned software company GitHub. She has more than 15 years’ experience working in international development and technology for social good in the United Nations and private sector. malakumar.com
103
Health: A Political Choice – From Fragmentation to Integration
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online