HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Health literacy can contribute to reducingdisparities among different groups of people in accessing universal healthcareservices, Professor Dianne Levin-Zamir from Israel's University of Haifa said atan international conference held in Ho Chi Minh City on November 11.

In many countries, communication with patients and the public is increasinglybecoming digital.

“This trend has great advantages, among them bringing health information andnavigation directly into homes, allowing for personal data to be stored andthen accessed for the benefit of the patient as well as increased efficiency. Andit creates big data for analysis and technology development and more,” shesaid.

According to the World Health Organisation, health literacy reflects a certainlevel of knowledge, personal skills and confidence that allows individuals totake action and change their lifestyles and living conditions.

Digitalisation, however, requires the ability to seek, find, understand, andappraise health information from electronic sources and apply the knowledge toaddressing or solving a health problem, she added.

Until recently, the phrase ”digital divide” has been used to highlight thedisparities that exist among the public regarding the use of mobile phones andthe skills needed to manage health and healthcare in a digital world in whichlarge groups are assumed to have been left behind, she noted.

An asset-based approach to understanding digital health literacy views digitaltools as a means of empowerment for the patient and the public, she said.

Professor Kristine Sørensen from Global Health Literacy Academy in Denmark saidthat health literacy refers to how people access, understand, appraise andapply information technology to form judgments and make decisions regardinghealthcare, disease prevention and health promotion.

Cancer literacy, for instance, is critically important for cancer patients whomust make a complex set of diagnostic and treatment-based decisions at times ofphysical and emotional distress, she said.

Yet, it is unclear to what extent cancer literacy is reflected in cancerstrategies such as the national cancer control plans, according to Sørensen.

Professor Paras K  Pokharel of the Schoolof Public Health & Community Medicine at the B P Koirala Institute ofHealth Sciences in Nepal, said: “With the changing dynamics of the publichealth problems that we face, these challenges demand coordinated actions.”

The UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs) are interconnected and must beshared between every sector in society, he said.

As countries strive for universal health coverage, it is equally important tofocus on social determinants of health, health policies and health literacy,Pokharel said.

“While we continue to discuss health policies and social determinants, there isa lack of discussion at the national level on the challenges of a healthliteracy approach to implement universal health care, about using healthliteracy to solve problems, and about the appropriate tools and strategies ofhealth literacy, as well as the pertinent issues in which a health literacyapproach can make an impact,” he said.

In such a backdrop, discussion is needed on how countries can remove barriersto health literacy and eventually leap forward to attain universal healthcoverage, he added.

A health-literate health-care organisation includes leadership engagement,workforce preparation, a shame-free environment, plain language writing anddesign principles, clear oral communications and checks on understanding involvingthe populations served, and the need for health literacy in high risksituations, according to experts at the conference.

The conference was held by Thu Duc District Hospital in cooperation with theAsian Health Literacy Association./.