Youth-led panel at Digital Public Health 2025 in Madeira

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗿, 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀?

We just wrapped up our youth-led session at the 10th International Digital Public Health Conference in Madeira, with brilliant panelists Sıla Gürbüz Brian Li Han Wong Anastasia Kluge sharing youth perspectives on digital skills for health, from navigating social media and strengthening data rights literacy to co-creating digital tools and building capacity for youth to meaningfully shape digital health systems. This session was co-designed by young people from WHO Europe’s Youth4Health network and combined an interactive poll, presentations, and a panel discussion with Q&A.

I’m deeply grateful to my youth collaborators for inviting me to chair, and to hashtag#DPH2025 organizers Patty Kostkova Iva Pencheva for making space for a fully youth-led panel — something I haven’t seen at a public health conference before. Your trust in us sets a powerful precedent and shows what’s possible when youth are empowered to lead: it opens up new ways of seeing, creating, and believing in the future of health.

My heart is full and I’m looking ahead with hope, excited to take forward more youth-led work on digital misinformation, prevention, policy, and design with my fellow colleagues from WHO Europe Youth4Health network, Research on Inclusive Solutions and Empowerment (RISE) in Digital Health group at TU Delft, and all those committed to building participatory digital health systems. If you’re working in this space, let’s collaborate!