International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union is the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. Its health-related work includes digital health infrastructure, technical cooperation and a joint initiative with the World Health Organization on preventing and managing noncommunicable diseases.
Organization profile
- Organization type
- Digital health organization
- Headquarters / base
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Geographic scope
- Global
Medical focus
Activities
Population served
Agency and international network
Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, ITU works through its membership and regional offices worldwide. Its wider responsibilities include radio spectrum and satellite coordination, communication standards, and support for connectivity in underserved communities. These responsibilities give it a technical and institutional role in the systems on which digital health services depend.
Sources: [1].
Cooperation with the World Health Organization
Be He@lthy, Be Mobile brings together WHO’s health expertise and ITU’s digital technology work. Its BHBM 2.0 phase was presented at the WSIS Forum in July 2026 and aims to help countries integrate digital approaches into national infrastructure for preventing and managing noncommunicable diseases.
The initiative describes plans for an open platform supporting the design and testing of AI-enabled health tools, using WHO-curated content and reusable technical components. These are development objectives, not evidence that every proposed tool has already been deployed or demonstrated a clinical benefit. National institutions retain responsibility for adapting services to their own settings.
Diabetes guidance and historical connections
The joint initiative’s 2016 mDiabetes handbook provides operational guidance for countries planning national mobile-health programmes for diabetes prevention and management. It is a dated implementation resource, rather than a statement that an earlier country programme continues unchanged today.
ITU is also named in a retained historical UN Global Mobility Programme member list. The list does not establish current membership or a membership date.
Further health reading
Sources
- ITU: institutional identity, Geneva headquarters and global remit
- ITU: Be He@lthy, Be Mobile 2.0
- ITU: BHBM 2.0 opening remarks at WSIS Forum, 9 July 2026
- ITU: Be He@lthy, Be Mobile — mDiabetes handbook, 2016
- WHO: mDiabetes handbook purpose and publication date, 2016
- UN Global Mobility Programme: retained historical member list
Institutional relationships