e‐Health provides citizens with considerable advantages in terms of information, and even favours the availability of alternative diagnoses and of remote treatment or tele‐assistance. Through the use of new technologies, citizens can enjoy a number of on‐line medical services, including key services such as requesting an appointment on‐ line or the possibility of having a digital record. However, the percentage of cities that offer such possibilities is still small.
Within this field, there are some interesting experiences, such as those carried out by the city of Barcelona with its 'Digital Literacy Plan" and by the city of Mexico with its "Actions for Inclusion and Equality in Education" Programme, or the programs and initiatives targeting specific groups conducted by the city of Malmö, among other experiences.
The percentage of cities that have some sort of electronic health card is also small. Cities in Europe and Asia are primarily starting to use this system. Another e‐Health benefit is the possibility of accessing remote home services, alarm systems or remote patient monitoring systems. Although the number of cities that offer these systems is still limited, we can highlight initiatives such as the "Telecare" project in Taipei, the remote alarm system used in the city of Le Havre or the "A help button" offered in Mexico City, among others. Accessibility and e‐Inclusion ICT can enhance the capabilities of people with special needs, providing them with autonomy, independence and access to services that had not always been available to them. This is why the use of ICT should focus mainly on two objectives: solving deficiencies and enhancing capabilities. e‐Inclusion aims to eliminate the digital divide; i.e. the gap between those who use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a routine part of their daily lives and those who have no access to them or, if they do have access to them, do not know how to use them. In that sense, more and more cities (52%) are driving digital inclusion programmes for groups at risk of exclusion. Such initiatives are conducted primarily in Asia and Europe, while the percentage of cities in Latin America and Africa that have introduced them is still small.
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