WHO to set up global digital health certificate system

The World Health Organization and the European Commission announced on Monday the launch of a digital health partnership that will expand the use of the European Union's system of digital COVID-19 certification.

According to the WHO's Monday news release, the global health agency will adopt the EU's COVID-19 digital certification program from this month, and build a global digital health certification network based on the principles and open technologies of the EU legacy.

The EU's COVID-19 certificates were started in June 2021 to facilitate safe travel for citizens across the block at a time when countries issued border restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.

Travelers' vaccination and test results are shown on the documents, to prove people's health status.

The partnership means the current EU digital certificates, which are set to expire this summer, will be extended for global use, and will also be used for the control of other pathologies and, possibly, other pandemics.

Additional features, such as digitized international routine vaccination cards, may also be included in the network.

According to the WHO, the EU system is "the most widely used solution around the world" and adopting it allows for non-EU countries that issue certificates according to EU specifications to join it.

A total of 51 countries across four continents have been involved in the system, the European Commission said on its website.

"Building on the EU's highly successful digital certification network, WHO aims to offer all WHO member states access to an open-source digital health tool, which is based on the principles of equity, innovation, transparency, and data protection and privacy," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO's director-general, was quoted as saying.

The WHO claimed the network will not allow access to people's underlying personal data.

Stella Kyriakides, the EU's commissioner for health and food safety, said the network is a "powerful example of how alignment between the EU and the WHO can deliver better health for all" and pointed out that the EU's digital certificates are European's "best practices".

Thierry Breton, the bloc's commissioner for internal market, said the EU has set a global standard.

"I am pleased that the WHO will build on the privacy-preserving principles and cutting-edge technology of the EU certificate to create a global tool against future pandemics," he said.

Zheng Wanyin contributed to this story.