E-health and the Universitas 21 organization: 3. Global policy.

There is an urgent need to develop global e-health policy in order both to facilitate and to manage the potential of e-health. As part of the Universitas 21 (U21) project in e-health, an evaluation of the status of global e-health policy was performed using a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). The analysis showed that the greatest threat to global e-health policy is the autonomous nature of domestic health-care systems. The greatest opportunity may be the prospect for nations and individuals to work together in establishing mechanisms necessary to offer health-care access through global e-health--a new 'global public good'. Full integration of e-health into existing health-care systems could be achieved in both a practical and a policy sense through global e-health policy initiatives that facilitate integration across jurisdictions. There is a pressing need to resolve a range of e-health policy issues, and a concomitant need for research that will inform and support the process. A process that adopts a global approach is recommended.