Our Publications

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.

• Digital Rights
• Ghana
• Global

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.

• Digital Rights
• Digital Health
• Internet Access
• Technology-facilitated abuse
• Gender inequality
• Digital Empowerment
• Colombia
• Ghana
• Kenya
• Vietnam
• Global

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.

• Digital Rights
• Digital Health
• Young Adults
• Participatory Action Research
• Global

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.

• Digital Rights
• Digital Health
• Young Adults
• Participatory Action Research
• Ghana
• Kenya
• Vietnam

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.

• Digital Rights
• Strategy
• Digital Health
• Digital Governance
• Global

Putting People and Human Rights First in Digital Health is a practical tool to uphold and advance human rights within health programmes using digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI). Designed to help implementers, communities, funders, and civil society in protecting and promoting human rights within digital health interventions, the resource is freely available on the STOPAIDS website.

• Digital Health
• Digital Rights
• Funders
• Implementers
• Global

This study explores the role of digital health interventions in improving maternal health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). It focuses on the effectiveness, challenges, and integration of mobile health (mHealth) technologies within existing healthcare systems.

• Digital Future
• Digital Health
• Digital Rights
• Global

The report "Towards People-centred Digital Health Strategies: Gender, Equity, Rights and Inclusion" by the University of Warwick examines 20 national digital health strategies through the lenses of gender, equity, rights, and inclusion.

• Digital Health
• Digital Rights
• Global

This article from Health and Human Rights investigates how digital transformation affects the right to health of young adults in Bangladesh and Colombia. Through a community-engaged study, it focuses on digital access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV-related information, emphasising both opportunities and challenges.

• Digital Health
• Digital Rights
• Digital Future
• Bangladesh
• Colombia

The article for Culture, Health and Sexuality explores integration of digital technologies in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, focusing on their impact on privacy, autonomy, and equality. It highlights how digital tools both advance and challenge fundamental human rights in SRH contexts.

• Digital Health
• Tech Business and Human Rights
• Digital Rights
• Vietnam