Abstract
The digital health community has taken an increased interest in climate and environmental issues. At the same time, and even though equity considerations have been central to digital health for decades, equity-focused approaches to climate and environment have been less considered. In this commentary, we emphasize the need for equity to remain central to digital health as it shifts to address climate and environment-related challenges. We provided four case examples: electronic waste, early warning systems, digital systems infrastructure vulnerability, and artificial intelligence resource use, to demonstrate the climate/environment digital health inequity nexus. We stress that, in not attending to this relationship, the digital transition may amplify rather than reduce inequities associated with climate and environmental challenges. We include a call to action for those in the digital health community to include equity considerations in the planning and designing of digital health solutions and systems aimed at addressing such climate and environmental challenges and beyond.
Natalie Hammond, Peter Benjamin, Gabrielle Samuel, Javier Elkin, Tanjir Rashid Soron, Richard Holman Matanta, Akaninyene Obot, Carme Carrion, Digital health systems and inequities: exploring climate and environmental impacts, Oxford Open Digital Health, 2025;, oqaf034, https://doi.org/10.1093/oodh/oqaf034
HIFA profile: Akaninyene Obot is currently an Academia/Researcher in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria and also a Program Consultant at Ukana West 2 Community Based Health Insurance (CBHI), Primary Health Centre, Ikot Ideh, Essien Udim, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. He has a Master degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ibadan, Ibadan. He advocate for improved health financing, good governance and accountability. He is also involved in resource mobilization locally and international to meet the health need of the rural communities. That is to make healthcare services equitable, affordable and accessible to all and eliminate out of pocket payment at the point of healthcare need. uteeakan@gmail.com/ap.obot@unizik.edu.ng/2348063662407