The World Health Organization (WHO) Digital Clearinghouse curates and catalogues digital health solutions that meet minimum requirements in the delivery of digital health interventions at the primary health care level.

The WHO Digital Clearinghouse connects country governments with proven digital health solutions and enables solution developers to have clear guidelines and gain credibility for the solutions that they develop. Through the Clearinghouse, WHO will facilitate an independent, objective, and transparent process to assess digital products designed for specific health domains. The Clearinghouse complements existing digital health resources including the Digital Health Atlas, SMART Guidelines Exchange, and forthcoming Global Digital Health Index.

The WHO Digital Clearinghouse will assess digital health solutions, but it is not a regulatory mechanism. Through the Clearinghouse, WHO assesses technology applications against objective, transparent criteria but does not endorse or recommend individual solutions for specific contexts.

Each digital health solution submitted to the Clearinghouse undergoes an independent, impartial review process using criteria categorized under five domains. The review assesses whether the solution:

1. Fulfils functional and non-functional requirements for reference applications within the health domain.
2. Can exchange data with other systems using open standards for interoperability.
3. Uses health and data content that is consistent with WHO recommendations, including adherence to SMART Guidelines if relevant.
4. Addresses the implementation needs and constraints of low-resource settings, meeting requirements for scalability, maintainability, and country-led extensibility and adaptability.
5. Upholds standards for data privacy, data security, and patient safety.

The Clearinghouse benefits

Country governments seeking digital health solutions with proven implementations and documented benefits in similar contexts. The Clearinghouse is a single platform where ministries of health and other government agencies can easily find pre-evaluated solutions for their public health challenges.

Solution developers submitting digital health solutions for assessment. The Clearinghouse connects their solutions with the countries that will benefit from them, providing a platform where they can showcase and gain credibility for the solutions they develop. It also connects funding organizations to proven products and helps market-shape digital investments at the country level.

Implementers partnering with governments to select, fund, and implement digital health solutions. The Clearinghouse helps implementers find solutions that align with country investment priorities.

Funding organizations supporting interventions that achieve system-wide results, demonstrate scale, and show return on investment. Funders will be interested in the overall operation and use of the platform to further these efforts. As a central repository for proven solutions, the Clearinghouse will shape the future design and development of investments in digital health.

The graphic below details the assessment process for each prioritized health domain.

• Equitable access
• Open to all technologies
• User-friendly
• Multilingual
• Timely and efficient

The Clearinghouse will accept solutions for specific health domains in early 2023, starting with Digital Documentation of COVID-19 Certificates (DDCC). Country governments and other stakeholders can expect to find curated solutions available on the WHO Digital Clearinghouse in the second quarter of 2023.

For more information, please contact digitalclearinghouse@who.int.