Peru urged to embrace telehealth to manage chronic diseases amid climate and demographic challenges

Peru's new government faces a critical opportunity to reform its healthcare system by prioritizing telehealth, especially in anticipation of the strong El Niño Costero phenomenon projected for 2026-2027. This climate event is expected to exacerbate existing pressures on hospitals, which are already operating at their limits due to an aging population and the rise of chronic diseases. Telehealth offers a rapid, cost-effective, and nationwide solution to expand access, ensure continuous care, and reduce unnecessary consultations and travel, mirroring its success during the pandemic. The World Health Organization estimates that digital health interventions for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) can yield a return of up to $24 per dollar invested, potentially saving millions of lives and hospitalizations globally over a decade. Implementing these digital interventions in lower-middle-income countries is estimated to cost only about $0.10 per patient annually, a minimal fraction of current spending on NCDs, yet capable of significantly reducing the health and economic burden. El Salvador's DoctorSV system, launched in late 2025, demonstrates the potential, exceeding one million users and handling up to 20,000 daily consultations within weeks, while also focusing on chronic disease management. Peru's current approach, treating chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes as isolated episodes rather than continuous processes, is inadequate. A shift towards a preventive, continuous, and person-centered model is necessary, integrating teleconsultation, remote monitoring, electronic health records, connected devices, and AI responsibly. The immediate focus should be on hypertension and diabetes, given high rates of overweight (63.8% in 2025), elevated blood pressure (14.6% with only 10.8% diagnosed), and diabetes (5.2% diagnosed, with 67% receiving treatment). Remote monitoring, in particular, can track trends, detect early warning signs, and adjust treatments to prevent complications, as evidenced by studies showing significant reductions in blood pressure and improved glycemic control with connected devices and timely adjustments. While Peru has existing regulations, infrastructure, and funding for telehealth, the key challenge lies in integrating these systems and establishing a person-centered model with defined responsibilities and response times. Expanding this model beyond NCDs to include cancer, mental health, and emergencies could be a visible early reform for the new government.