WHO and ECDC launch indicator framework to evaluate effectiveness of digital tracing solutions

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) together with the World Health Organization (WHO) through its Headquarters and Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) have developed the first indicator framework to evaluate the public health effectiveness of digital proximity tracing solutions.

Countries have readily employed innovative technologies throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to support the implementation of public health and social measures. Digital proximity tracing—using smartphones or purpose-built devices to capture anonymized interactions between individuals then issuing alerts—emerged during the pandemic as a new means of support to government-led programmes for contact tracing.

ECDC and WHO developed this indicator framework in consultation with public health experts globally. The framework will provide countries with a standardized approach for evaluating their use of digital proximity tracing solutions. It will also assess the extent to which these solutions have aided national contact tracing strategies for COVID-19.

Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Director of the Division of Country Health Policies and Systems at WHO/Europe said that “this new indicator framework has been developed through a strong collaboration between ECDC and WHO. It offers countries a standardized approach to gather the evidence and assess the contribution that digital proximity tracing technology has made to large-scale contact tracing efforts for COVID-19. We anticipate that it will become an invaluable tool”.