A curated collection of Digital Health and Rights Project peer-reviewed journal articles, reports, policy briefs, and more for in-depth exploration.
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This research brief shares findings from a study with 50 young adults and civil society leaders from Colombia, Ghana, Kenya and Vietnam who advocated for digital rights in local, national, regional and global consultations to explore what they experienced as meaningful in their participation.
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This brief draws on a review of human rights standards and peer-reviewed studies of digital health strategies
to recommend steps to wire human rights into digital health by design: Set clear objectives to spur action to address human rights harms; Build on existing UN human rights standards
and platforms; and Promote greater accountability, including meaningful participation of young people and civil society in digital health governance.
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This policy brief summarises recommendations from a study conducted by the Digital Health and Rights Project (DHRP)10 in Kenya (led in Kenya by the Kenya Legal and Ethical Issues Network on HIV and AIDS (KELIN) and University of Warwick).
The study, part of a four-country transnational participatory action research project, examined how young people living with HIV (PLHIV), young female sex workers,
and young LGBTQ+ individuals navigate digital spaces, focusing on empowerment, inclusion, and governance from a human rights perspective. The policy brief, led by KELIN, shares evidence-based recommendations for Kenya.
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This national policy brief examines how young people in Ghana navigate digital spaces to access health information, with a focus on human rights and exposure to online risks. Drawing on participatory research, it highlights experiences of online harms and abuse, misinformation, and privacy concerns affecting young key populations. It finds that marginalised young adults face significant economic barriers, particularly the high cost of mobile devices and internet data, limiting access. Stigma related to health status, gender identity, and occupation further discourages engagement. These intersecting risks deepen exclusion, underscoring the need for inclusive, rights-based digital health policies that ensure safe, affordable, and equitable access.
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Co-created with over 300 young adults from rural, urban and peri-urban Kenya, Ghana, Vietnam and Colombia, this research report shares insights into how marginalised young adults are paying the costs of connecting to health online.
This research explores how digital health systems in Kenya can exacerbate inequality in the context of inadequate governance and rights protections. Based on participatory research with marginalized young people, it emphasizes a “triple barrier” consisting of high connectivity costs, stigma, and low digital literacy, along with privacy risks and widespread technology-facilitated abuse. These challenges frequently result in individuals withdrawing from digital platforms. Findings reveal gaps in enforcement of data protection and limited availability of remedies, positioning digital health as an issue of governance and equity while advocating for enhanced rights-based policies, inclusive access, and meaningful youth participation in decision-making processes.
This report summarises discussions at a workshop held at Fondation Brocher, Hermance, Switzerland in January 2023. The workshop gave our consortium a chance to step back, reflect on our first studies, and discuss learning from experience in 2021-22.
This article from BMJ Global Health argues that new digital health strategies and policies have not benefited from public awareness and input. It proposes participatory approaches to address these inequalities and promote rights-based digital governance.
This article from BMJ Global Health draws on DHRP's first participatory action research study in Ghana, Kenya and Vietnam in 2021-22 to investigate the impact of the digital transformation on health of diverse young adults.
This essay draws on the HIV response to critically engage with recent literature on the digital determinants of health, proposing an approach to analyzing broader political determinants of health, including commercial determinants of health, and other laws, policies, governance, and civic engagement relevant to digital health strategies. By rendering visible the role of politics, governance, and civic engagement in digital health, strategies can be tools to mobilize broad collaborations and advocacy that creates an enabling environment.
