World Emergency Card (WEC)
Origin language: English
World Emergency Card (WEC) is an operational global digital health system supporting access to essential health information in emergencies, everyday healthcare and international travel.
The system enables people to maintain a personal health profile containing information such as medical conditions, allergies, medication, emergency contacts and medical documents. It combines an emergency view of essential information with a more comprehensive protected profile. Patients can share information with healthcare professionals and trusted people to support informed assessment and continuity of care.
WEC also provides health summaries and preventive care guidance, helping users organise their health information and engage with prevention throughout their lives. Multilingual access supports communication across language barriers. Integration with WHO's ICD-11 classification supports standardised coding of health conditions.
The project serves the general population, with dedicated profiles for people with chronic conditions, pregnant women, older adults and families. A free entry-level profile supports accessibility.
WEC's development is informed by WHO digital health guidance, international interoperability standards, clinicians' practical experience and patients' lived experience. Its long-term objective is to enable one million people worldwide to maintain an accessible personal health profile by December 2031.
A key challenge is building trust among patients, healthcare professionals and institutions in a patient-controlled health information system operating across borders. Adoption requires clear communication about the source, accuracy and limitations of information, particularly the distinction between patient-entered and clinician-confirmed records.
Technical challenges include interoperability with heterogeneous health systems, multilingual presentation of clinical information, and balancing rapid emergency access with privacy and access controls. Keeping profiles complete and up to date also depends on sustained user engagement.
Implementation across countries requires attention to differing data protection requirements, clinical workflows and digital literacy. Technical readiness for standards-based exchange must be distinguished from formal participation in national or international trust networks, which requires external coordination.
As a privately funded project, WEC must balance affordable access and a free entry-level profile with sustainable investment in security, maintenance, user support and international growth.
Prioritise essential information in the emergency view and provide clear navigation to more detailed health records. Make the source and verification status of information explicit so healthcare professionals can distinguish patient-entered information from clinician-confirmed records.
Give patients understandable controls over sharing and access. Apply data minimisation and maintain a clear separation between emergency information and the protected full profile. WEC does not use AI to process patient data.
Use international terminology and interoperability standards where implemented, and validate exported records against the relevant specifications. Document the scope of implementation and distinguish technical compatibility from institutional approval or network participation.
Involve patients and healthcare professionals in refining usability, accessibility and clinical relevance. Support multilingual use and encourage regular profile updates.
Combine a free entry-level profile with paid subscriptions to support access and operational sustainability. For scaling, monitor adoption, profile completeness and actual use separately from clinical outcomes. Further evaluation should assess usability, continuity of care and emergency information access without assuming that registration numbers demonstrate health impact.
