Space and Global Health

Encourages United Nations entities, intergovernmental organizations, Governments and the private sector to pursue effective coordination in all key space activities relevant to global health;

Encourages formalized cooperation between health authorities and space authorities at the domestic level, and welcomes existing cross-sectoral networks that foster the exchange of ideas between the space and health sectors;

Encourages Member States to establish a policy-enabled environment and governance mechanisms, with due consideration of legal and ethical issues, for removing challenges to facilitating the effective use of space-based technologies in support of global health, including telemedicine solutions and other emerging technologies;

Also encourages Member States to promote open data-sharing policies and participatory approaches to developing and improving access to all geospatial information relevant to global health, including remote sensing and Earth observation data, whenever possible;

Further encourages Member States to enable organizational and technical interoperability and promote research and innovation activities to facilitate the development and implementation of space-based science and technology in the health sector;

Urges United Nations entities and intergovernmental organizations to support the wider development of, equitable access to and application of space solutions for global health, public health, including epidemics and pandemics, emergencies that may have an impact on health, and the individual health needs of Member States, and encourages the implementation of a broader range of space solutions for sustainable development, including public-private partnerships;

Encourages Member States and participating entities to advance their efforts related to the geotagging of all assets relevant to health systems, including health information systems, and to make them available to further the attainment of health goals;

Encourages Member States to recognize the relevance of access to the space environment and space analogues⁶ for health and life sciences research and development, especially in the area of astronaut health, for social and economic benefits on Earth;

Also encourages Member States to actively promote international cooperation in the field of space medicine on the basis of equal opportunities for all interested participants and in the interests of the further exploration of outer space by humankind, and further scientific and technological development and applications in the interests of global health;

Further encourages Member States to conduct appropriate drills and exercises to benchmark their operational preparedness and response capacities and capabilities for the appropriate use of space technologies in responding to global health events;

Encourages Member States to engage learning institutions and other capacity-building mechanisms in motivating young health professionals, at an early stage, to acquire space-related skills and abilities;

Requests the Office for Outer Space Affairs to strengthen, within existing resources, capacity-building and networking in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean, through regional technical cooperation projects, and to support field projects for strengthening collaboration between the space and global health sectors as an efficient strategy for making better use of space science and technology for access to global health for beneficiary States and taking better advantage of opportunities offered by bilateral or multilateral collaboration;

Encourages Member States to foster linkages between academia, national experts, telecommunications regulatory authorities and science and technology authorities with a view to improving access to and the use of digital technologies and information systems in health.