Youth-Led Innovations in Public Health

Young people bring lived experience and digital fluency. Their engagement in NCD-focused digital innovation is essential to achieving health equity. Through DC4H, youth can advocate for national policies that prioritize NCD prevention, including the integration of digital screening for hypertension and diabetes at the primary care level. In practice, youth can participate in policy forums, advocacy campaigns, and design workshops, where they actively contribute ideas for DH solutions, ensuring that technologies and strategies are inclusive, accessible, and relevant.

Youth can help ensure DH tools are usable, relevant, and culturally appropriate. Supporting youth-led innovations through hackathons, seed funding, and fellowships can improve digital solutions for NCDs, especially in mental health, obesity, and substance use. Youth can address low user engagement by designing tools that foster usability and habit formation.

In India, initiatives such as the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission have set the stage for a digitally driven healthcare experience, yet there remains considerable room for youth engagement. As digital natives, youth are uniquely positioned to lead the creation of innovative, scalable health solutions. Their involvement ensures digital tools are accessible and user-friendly. A standout example is the student-initiated Khushi Baby Project in Rajasthan, India, which enables Community Health Workers (CHWs) to use mobile technology and machine learning to prioritize high-risk individuals, improve prenatal care adherence, and enhance family planning access. 

Ultimately, DC4H enables youth to engage in health policy, technology development, and data governance. Their inclusion promotes a more ethical, transparent, and inclusive health system that reflects diverse community needs. Youth engagement in DH must move beyond pilot projects and panels. We need to invest in youth leadership pipelines within public health systems through internships, policy roles, innovation grants, and capacity building. The fight against NCDs can only be won if the generation most affected is also the one designing the response, and for that, we can’t tokenize youth; we must empower them.

References

Sharma RS, Rohatgi A, Jain S, Singh D. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): making of India’s Digital Health Story. CSIT. 2023;11(1):3–9. doi: 10.1007/s40012-023-00375-0

Mitra A. Evolution of youth-friendly digital health system in India: an analysis [Internet]. 2025. [cited 2025 Apr 7]. Available from:  //dthlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Anyesha-Mitra-Research.pdf

Khushi Baby [Internet]. www.khushibaby.org. Available from:  //www.khushibaby.org/

Khan, S. F., & Jhaveri, A. (2025). Combating noncommunicable diseases in a digital world: Youth shaping the future through digital citizenship for health. PLOS digital health, 4(4), e0000854. //doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000854

Youth-led innovations are playing an important role in improving public health today. Young people are using technology, social media, and community-based ideas to address issues like mental health, sexual and reproductive health, tobacco use, climate change, and access to health information. Because youth are closely connected to their communities, they often understand local problems better and design solutions that are practical and acceptable.

Many youth-led initiatives focus on digital tools such as mobile apps, online awareness campaigns, and peer education programs. These approaches help spread health information quickly and in a language that young people can relate to. Youth involvement also improves trust, participation, and long-term sustainability of public health programs.

Supporting youth leadership through mentorship, funding, and policy support is essential. When young people are meaningfully involved in planning and decision-making, public health systems become more inclusive, innovative, and responsive to future challenges.

References

1. World Health Organization. (2022). Youth engagement for health equity and systems strengthening. WHO.
2. United Nations Children’s Fund. (2020). Adolescent and youth engagement strategic framework. UNICEF.
3. Patton, G. C., Sawyer, S. M., Santelli, J. S., et al. (2016). Our future: A Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing. The Lancet, 387(10036), 2423–2478.

Youth-led innovations as catalysts for equitable and resilient public health systems

Youth-led innovation is increasingly driving the future of public health and acting as a connector of gaps between health communities, health data, and health policy. Young people in the field of public health are recognized for their unique potential in the current health context, being able to identify health issues, connect their health networks, and devise solutions that will improve health systems’ resilience and health equity. In response to this potential, the World Health Organization considers involving youth in health issues as a fundamental aspect of people-centered health systems.

Another area of innovation in youth-led innovation involves data creation as well as practices of citizen science. Young groups are leveraging resource-efficient devices, as well as geographic information systems, as well as mobile phone reporting, in order to collect data on risks of environmental health, stressors of mental health, as well as gaps of service in resource-poor areas. this approach ensures that health information flows improve at the grassroot level. Moreover, research points out that youth engagement in citizen science helps in enhancing appropriate data, trust, as well as its usage, specifically in areas where climate change awareness is prominent (2).

Youth Social Entrepreneurship , the power of innovation is further enhanced through youth social entrepreneurship, where experience is converted into sustainable solutions for health. Initiatives supported through UNICEF and other partners have allowed young innovators to focus their entrepreneurial endeavors in the sectors of nutrition insecurity, menstrual health, mental health, and health risks related to climate. Not only are these initiatives enhancing access to basic services, but they are also endowing the youth with skills related to leadership, funding, and intersector collaboration, as it is proven that innovations led by the youth lead to faster achievement in universal health coverage and sustainable development goals (3).

Taken together, the impact of the innovative work of the youths contributes directly to the realization of SDG 3 (Healthy Lives and Wellbeing), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 17 (Partnership for the Goals), while SDG 17 is promoted through partnerships. Greater emphasis and investment are thus needed to tap the potential of the youths to bring about positive changes within the health environments across the world (4).

References: 

1. World Health Organization. (2023). Youth leading for health. Retrieved from //www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/youth-leading-for-health

2. Den Broeder, L., Devilee, J., Van Oers, H., Schuit, A. J., & Wagemakers, A. (2018). Citizen science for public health. Health Promotion International, 33(3), 505–514. //doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daw086

3. Generation Unlimited. (2023). Generation Unlimited: 2023 year in review. Retrieved from //www.generationunlimited.org

4. United Nations. (2015). Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Retrieved from //sdgs.un.org/goals

@drnikita Well said. The engagement of youth in innovations in public health is enabled by the Government of India and global organisations such as UNDP. There are a few examples; E.g. 1: Youth Co: Lab, co-created in 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Citi Foundation, Youth Co: Lab aims to establish a common agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to empower and invest in youth so that they can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship. In India, Youth Co: Lab was launched in 2019 in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog. It encourages

1. Ideas/solutions that are viable and scalable
2. Startup teams led by Women, LGBTQI+, PWDs, Tribal youth, and religious minorities. Therefore, for them, the age limit of the founders is extended up to 32 years (AvianWe, 2023)

E.g. 2: India launched a Youth Engagement Program and One Health Dashboard under the National One Health Mission in mid-2025 to involve young people and use technology for better health security, focusing on integrated disease surveillance, outbreak modeling, and fostering innovation via hackathons, aiming for early warning systems and future readiness against health threats. (The Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India Organised the First State/UTs Engagement Workshop under the National One Health Mission, 2025)

E.g.3: Smart  India Hackathon(SIH). The Grand Finale of Smart  India Hackathon 2025 commenced on 8th December 2025. From across the country, 68,766 student teams submitted 72,165 ideas, reflecting the increasing interest of students in innovation, entrepreneurship, and nation-building. (Dr. Sukanta Majumdar Addresses Smart India Hackathon 2025; Interacts with Participants across 7 Nodal Centres, 2025)

However, there are potential challenges also to bring this into operability, such as Bureaucratic hurdles, lack of technical expertise, lack of sustainability, etc. To address these issues, the GoI comes up with (1) National Single Window System (NSWS): Startups no longer need to visit multiple ministry portals. All applications for test licenses and manufacturing permissions are now consolidated under one digital window (2)SUGAM Portal 2.0: Relaunched in April 2025, it provides auto-generated Market Standing and Non-Conviction Certificates, cutting down months of administrative waiting time.

1. //aim.gov.in/youthcolab-2023-24/#:~:text=Early%2Dstage%20startups%20led%20by,of%20the%20dialogue%20specified%20below ‌" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AvianWe. (2023). Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). Atal Innovation Mission (AIM). //aim.gov.in/youthcolab-2023-24/#:~:text=Early%2Dstage%20startups%20led%20by,of%20the%20dialogue%20specified%20below ‌
2. The Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India organised the first State/UTs engagement workshop under the National One Health Mission. (2025). Pib.gov.in. //www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2135236&reg=3&lang=2

3. Dr. Sukanta Majumdar addresses Smart India Hackathon 2025; interacts with participants across 7 nodal centres. (2025). Pib.gov.in. //www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2201244&reg=3&lang=2#:~:text=in%20Indi a's%20ethos.%E2%80%9D-,The%20Grand%20Finale%20of%20SIH%202025%2C%20which%20commenced%20on%208th,women%20in%20India's%20innovation%20landscape.

4. CDSCO. (2025). Cdscoonline.gov.in. //cdscoonline.gov.in/CDSCO/homepage

5. National Single Window System. (2021). Nsws.gov.in. //www.nsws.gov.in/

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