Inclusive Digital Health in Primary Health Care: Bridging Governance, Education, Provision of Health Service, and Social Participation
1
Department of Health Administration and Planning, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2
Computing Department, São Paulo State University, São Paulo, Brazil
3
Office of Fiocruz Strategy for the Agenda 2030, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
4
Department of Epidemiology and Quantitative Methods, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A931
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Digital Health has emerged as a strategic field for mediating healthcare through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), guided by the WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health and the pursuit of universal health coverage. However, its effectiveness in Primary Health Care (PHC) depends on addressing persistent digital divides. This study systematizes reflections from the workshop “Digital Inclusion as a Guiding Principle for Inclusive Digital Health in Primary Health Care”, held during the XVIII Latin American Congress of Social Medicine and Collective Health (ALAMES, 2025). The analysis examines digital inclusion as a structural determinant of equity in health mediation within Latin American contexts.
METHODS:
This experience report adopts a participatory and dialogical approach, engaging actors from academia, health governance, service delivery, and social movements. A qualitative systematization of collective reflections was conducted, focusing on challenges within Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS), particularly in PHC. The analysis was organized around key dimensions: infrastructure and connectivity; digital literacy; strategies to address misinformation; governance of health data as a public good; and the development of a secure and democratic digital ecosystem.
RESULTS:
Findings indicate that inclusive digital health in PHC requires coordinated, multi-level actions beyond technological deployment. Priority areas include expanding universal connectivity, ensuring interoperability of health information systems, and strengthening digital skills among professionals and citizens. The study highlights the importance of territorial specificities and social participation to prevent top-down technological approaches. Persistent structural inequalities remain the main barrier, reinforcing digital access as a fundamental component of the right to health.
CONCLUSIONS:
Digital transformation in health must go beyond technology, addressing structural inequities, valuing territorial knowledge, and strengthening democratic governance. Social participation is essential to ensure that digital health advances equity and supports universal health systems.
Digital Health has emerged as a strategic field for mediating healthcare through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), guided by the WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health and the pursuit of universal health coverage. However, its effectiveness in Primary Health Care (PHC) depends on addressing persistent digital divides. This study systematizes reflections from the workshop “Digital Inclusion as a Guiding Principle for Inclusive Digital Health in Primary Health Care”, held during the XVIII Latin American Congress of Social Medicine and Collective Health (ALAMES, 2025). The analysis examines digital inclusion as a structural determinant of equity in health mediation within Latin American contexts.
METHODS:
This experience report adopts a participatory and dialogical approach, engaging actors from academia, health governance, service delivery, and social movements. A qualitative systematization of collective reflections was conducted, focusing on challenges within Brazil’s Unified Health System (SUS), particularly in PHC. The analysis was organized around key dimensions: infrastructure and connectivity; digital literacy; strategies to address misinformation; governance of health data as a public good; and the development of a secure and democratic digital ecosystem.
RESULTS:
Findings indicate that inclusive digital health in PHC requires coordinated, multi-level actions beyond technological deployment. Priority areas include expanding universal connectivity, ensuring interoperability of health information systems, and strengthening digital skills among professionals and citizens. The study highlights the importance of territorial specificities and social participation to prevent top-down technological approaches. Persistent structural inequalities remain the main barrier, reinforcing digital access as a fundamental component of the right to health.
CONCLUSIONS:
Digital transformation in health must go beyond technology, addressing structural inequities, valuing territorial knowledge, and strengthening democratic governance. Social participation is essential to ensure that digital health advances equity and supports universal health systems.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
