By Mochammad Fadjar Wibowo, Muhammad Daniel Azlan Mahadzir, TFGI Insights Contributors
ASEAN has witnessed an accelerated adoption of digital health solutions, especially driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted their role in public health and communication. Notable achievements span from the successful deployment of cost-effective telemedicine initiatives that have expanded healthcare access in Indonesia during the pandemic, to the demonstrated value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in community-based disease screening, exemplified by the launch of locally-developed eye screening artificial intelligence (AI) system SELENA+ (Singapore Eye LEsioN Analyzer Plus) in Singapore. Despite these advances, persistent challenges on collective digital growth in the region remain. A significant digital divide persists across the region, characterised by disparities in digital literacy, infrastructure access, and regulatory frameworks, a situation exacerbated by the pandemic. Besides, there is a concerning lack of uniformity in legislative frameworks, standards for digital products, infrastructure readiness, and digital literacy levels among ASEAN Member States (AMS). These fragmentations in digital health services require urgent attention to fully leverage technological advancements.
Key policy gaps impeding progress
Several key policy gaps impede the progress of digital health in ASEAN. The absence of a unified ASEAN regulatory framework for digital health technologies poses a critical issue to regulation and governance. This deficiency leads to fragmentation, inconsistency across member states, and significant barriers to cross-border health data sharing and the provision of telemedicine services. Furthermore, the lack of harmonised policies on data privacy, security, and ownership erodes confidence among providers and patients. Other gaps include:
1. Digital literacy
Digital literacy and capacity present fundamental challenges across each member state. Digital skills are foundational to leveraging health technology, yet significant literacy gaps persist on several levels between the countries’ populations, within the countries where there is rural-urban divide and between general public and healthcare workers. These gaps are particularly pronounced in less developed countries, rural populations, and among certain age groups. For instance, a study in Indonesia revealed that a notable percentage of primary healthcare workers had never used the internet or operated computers.
2. Fragmented infrastructure
Uneven digital infrastructure and interoperability, especially in rural and remote areas without reliable connectivity, hinders services like EHR and telemedicine. Without interoperability standards, health data remain siloed, undermining coordinated regional responses.
3. Absence of financing
Economic and financing challenges continue to persist. In various settings, there is often inadequate financing allocated for comprehensive digital health training programmes and effective implementation strategies due to competing healthcare priorities. Regulatory uncertainty around data privacy, interoperability and cross-border flows deter investors who are wary of unclear ROI and scalability. Yet telemedicine’s proven cost-effectiveness, especially in urban settings, remains an under-leveraged economic argument for policymakers.
Policy recommendations from the ASEAN Summit 2025
1. Policy harmonisation framework
The 46th ASEAN Summit has adopted the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on ASEAN 2045, emphasising resilience, innovation, and inclusivity. Highlighted within this vision is the transformative potential of digital technologies, including digital health, to achieve sustainable development and regional integration. During the summit, ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) negotiations were accelerated to deepen regional economic integration and expand the digital economy to guide and support digitalisation of key industries, including healthcare. This opens up opportunities for a more comprehensive digital integration and interoperability that is crucial to facilitate cross-border telemedicine, seamless health data exchange, and collaborative health initiatives. Combining this new declaration with the existing ASEAN Socio-cultural Community (ASCC) Research and Development Platform, it provides a great runway for the development of a Unified ASEAN Digital Health Regulatory Framework. This framework will establish harmonised policies for data privacy, security, cross-border telemedicine, digital solution certification, and the ethical use of AI. Additionally, the framework should also highlight the capacity to track implementation, share best practices, and report on progress towards regional digital health goals.
2. Digital health education roadmap
ASEAN needs a digital health literacy roadmap that includes training for both healthcare providers and the public, targeted awareness campaigns, knowledge transfer initiatives, and tailored support for vulnerable groups. Digital health competencies should be embedded into the education and continuous professional development of health workers, with particular attention to underserved communities—aligning with the commitments of the Kuala Lumpur Declaration. Regional collaboration among governments, healthcare providers, technology companies, academia, and civil society will be essential to coordinate training efforts and build capacity.
To address workforce shortages, ASEAN could negotiate a Digital Health Workforce Mobility Agreement that enables the mutual recognition of qualifications and standardised certifications. Drawing from global examples of skilled health worker migration agreements, it will be important to ensure that such a framework delivers clear public-value benefits to both sending and receiving countries, is backed by sustainable funding and governance structures, and avoids reinforcing inequities by disproportionately favouring destination states.
3. Strong quality and standard framework
On the technical front, the development of ASEAN Digital Health Interoperability Standards is essential to enable the seamless exchange of health information across systems and borders, adapted to the specific needs of the ASEAN region. This could be led by ASCC Research and Development Platform and built on top of the existing framework such as Asia e-Health Information Network (AeHIN)’s Mind the GAPS, Fill the GAPS framework aimed at strengthening digital capabilities, particularly in underserved areas, through public-private partnerships and regional investment funds. This standard framework is essential to ensure all digital health technologies adopted in the region meet the quality level and provide the intended services instead of putting users at risk.
4. Innovation investment framework
On the financing front, ASEAN should establish a Digital Health Investment Framework, detailing innovation and development financing mechanisms, evaluation and cost-benefit analyses and sustainable business models that support the creation and adoption of technologies suiting the ASEAN population context. This framework will support the ideation of evidence-based digital interfaces that is often overlooked due to limited resources. The collective efforts from AMS can spearhead the region as an innovation hub for digital health technologies.
Potential benefits and impact
Despite the fragmented progress, digital health adoption has supported chronic-disease management, specialist access and prevention through AI screening and telemedicine, which could reduce per-visit costs by up to 30% and save patients 2–3 hours per consultation. Digital health extends scarce resources into underserved areas by automating routine tasks and freeing clinicians for complex care. A robust regional digital health infrastructure can bolster pandemic readiness, facilitate coordinated emergency responses, and foster long-term resilience. This, in turn, can drive strategic investment and yield substantial economic and societal benefits.
ASEAN’s digital health market is set to grow at an 8.05% CAGR to US$10.7 billion by 2029, signalling investor interest once barriers are addressed. Digital platforms offer solutions to the shortage of 1.4 doctors per 1,000 people in under-resourced regions through task-shifting and automation. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of real-time surveillance, contact tracing, and continuity of care. Strengthening regional digital health ecosystems will improve healthcare delivery, bolster pandemic preparedness and build resilience.
What is next for ASEAN
The ASEAN Summit 2025 presented a pivotal moment for the advocacy of a robust digital health strategy. To establish more balanced, effective, and robust healthcare delivery throughout ASEAN, the region will need to tackle identified challenges in policy, literacy, quality, and funding. By leveraging strategic visions and frameworks like DEFA, ASEAN has a unique opportunity to demonstrate the transformative impact of digital technologies on healthcare delivery and public health, potentially positioning itself as a global leader in this domain.
About the writers:
Mochammad Fadjar Wibowo is a Research Fellow at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI). His research focuses on integrating artificial intelligence into regional health systems. Fadjar holds a Master’s in Global Health from Karolinska Institute (Sweden) and a Doctor of Medicine from Gadjah Mada University (Yogyakarta Sultanate). For his contributions to global health, he received awards from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Germany) and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Muhammad Daniel Azlan Mahadzir is an award-winning clinical nutritionist and public health scientist based in Malaysia and Singapore. He is currently an Innovation Fellow at the Singhealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute. An advocate of sustainable food systems and planetary health, he explores nutrition-focused approaches to promote longevity and target ageing. As a budding “sciencepreneur”, he aims to improve access to well-balanced nutrition through advocacy and translational research. Daniel received his doctorate and bachelor’s degrees from Monash University and RMIT Australia.
About the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute:
The SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI) is an enabling platform for global health activities across the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre. Harnessing the strengths and expertise of SingHealth and Duke-NUS Medical School, the institute aims to address current and emerging health challenges across Asia and beyond. Working in collaboration with partners globally, we seek to tackle prevalent health challenges, strengthen health systems, and better insulate countries from pandemics and disease threats.
For more information, please visit https://www.duke-nus.edu.sg/sdghi
