Amplifying youth voices: Shaping policies for digital health, data governance and human Rights

Social, economic, infrastructural and other digital determinants of health continue to influence individuals’ ability to access, use, and benefit from digital technologies to improve their health and well-being. Marginalized groups including adolescents and young people, women, persons with disabilities and people in marginalised communities are disproportionately affected by these inequalities. Although the youth constituency is energised with vested interests in digital systems, they are not always equally or meaningfully  represented within the digital health development space, especially in policy making, implementation and evaluation.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025 ends in December 2025, and the development of the new Global Digital Health Strategy is underway, with significant efforts from various organisations working to create a more robust document. The UN also plans a high-level meeting on UHC in 2027 to review the implementation of commitments made in the 2023 political declaration, focusing on achieving SDG target 3.8 by 2030. However, there is real risk that youth voices could be excluded from these processes, as they were not actively engaged previously.

Additionally, the rapidly changing international political context – in particular, the significant reduction in funding for global health – will impact the digital transformation of health.

It is in this context that Transform Health and the Digital Health and Rights Project are seeking to bring together young people, communities and civil society to discuss the future of digital health, data governance and human rights