How Digital Health Is Transforming Primary Health Care in Fragile and Humanitarian Contexts

UNICEF’s report shows how digital health tools—such as mobile apps, telemedicine and data systems—are helping deliver essential primary health care to women and children in fragile, conflict and humanitarian settings where traditional health services often fail. Drawing on lessons from COVID-19 and country examples, it argues that moving from short-term digital projects to government-led, long-term digital health investments is key to building resilient health systems and saving lives.

Prepared by UNICEF with reference to global health institutions such as the World Health Organization, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, Malaria Consortium and VillageReach, the document explains why fragile, conflict- and violence-affected settings face the greatest health risks. In places affected by war, displacement, famine, drought and chronic insecurity, health systems are often weak or fragmented. Geography, poverty, gender inequality, displacement and repeated shocks determine who can access care and who cannot. Children are particularly vulnerable, with deaths driven largely by vaccine-preventable diseases and five common causes: diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria, malnutrition and newborn complications. Poor governance and limited health system capacity further reduce both the availability of services and people’s trust in them. UNICEF argues that improving health outcomes in these settings requires not only stronger facilities and staff, but also resilient communities, informed caregivers and health authorities capable of planning and managing services.

How Digital Health Is Changing Care on the Ground

The report shows that digital health is already reshaping how care is delivered in humanitarian settings. Even where internet access is limited, mobile phones and messaging platforms are widely used. These tools are helping community health workers diagnose illnesses, follow up patients and manage medical supplies more effectively. Digital solutions are also allowing care to reach people when health facilities are too far away, damaged or unsafe. Private-sector and social enterprise models are contributing innovations that complement public health systems. The document stresses that digital health is not about replacing human care, but about extending its reach and improving quality in difficult environments.

Lessons from Countries Using Digital Tools

UNICEF highlights several examples to show how digital health works in practice. In Mauritania, the Amana project uses a smartphone application to improve the detection and treatment of child malnutrition. In Chad, an electronic system built on the Ona platform helps track immunization follow-up for infants. In Pakistan, the Nighedaasht mobile app strengthens maternal and child health services by improving referrals and communication between community midwives and doctors. Other examples include Mozambique’s upSCALE platform, now part of the national community health worker strategy, Rwanda’s Babyl service that enables phone consultations and electronic prescriptions, and Malawi’s national health hotline offering advice through calls and messages. Together, these cases show that digital tools can improve access, efficiency and continuity of care.

From Short Projects to Long-Term Investment

A key message of the document is that many digital health initiatives remain small, short-term projects driven by donors rather than governments. While these pilots generate useful lessons, they often end without being scaled or sustained. UNICEF argues for a shift toward digital health investments that are government-led, aligned with national strategies and integrated into broader health and digital systems. This shift is becoming more possible due to better coordination around the Principles for Digital Development, the creation of reusable “Global Goods,” stronger donor alignment through Digital Investment Principles, and new financing opportunities such as the Global Financing Facility. Technical guidance from WHO and UNICEF is also helping countries assess readiness and plan for scale.

COVID-19 Proved What Digital Health Can Do

The COVID-19 pandemic is presented as clear evidence of the value of digital health in emergencies. During the crisis, digital tools were rapidly deployed for disease surveillance, contact tracing, data collection, remote training of health workers and community engagement. In West and Central Africa, health worker training was delivered through platforms like Telegram, Moodle and SMS. UNICEF also used two-way messaging systems such as RapidPro, connected to WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, to share reliable health information and counter misinformation. These experiences showed that digital health can protect essential services during crises and support vaccine delivery to hard-to-reach communities.

The report concludes that digital health is no longer optional in humanitarian settings. When designed for scale, aligned with national systems and focused on real needs, digital solutions can strengthen primary health care, protect children’s lives and build more resilient health systems in the world’s most fragile contexts.