With coronavirus disease (Covid-19) brining health sector into focus, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the National Digital Health Mission will commence on the Independence Day. “From today, the national digital health mission will begin. It will revolutionise Indian healthcare sector. Every Indian will be issued a health ID that will act like a healthcare account, storing details of all the tests done, existing diseases, diagnoses, medicines prescribed,” said the pprime minister in his speech.
It will also ease processes like booking appointments, making payments, or getting registrations done at hospitals, the PM said.
“Technology will be used to resolve various problems in the healthcare sector – whether it is getting an appointment, making payment, or queueing up to get the (registration) slip. People will be able to make informed decisions,” he said.
This is a part of the government’s National Digital Health Blueprint aimed at using technology to improve healthcare delivery across the country. The objectives of the mission are to establish a core digital health database, creating a system of electronic health records based on international standards, establish data ownership pathways so that the patient is the owner their health records, and promoting health data analytics and medical research.
Speaking of work done in the healthcare sector, the PM said that new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences and other medical colleges have been set up, increasing the number of MBBS and MD seats for medical students by 45,000 in the last five years.
He also said that over 1.5 lakh wellness centres are being set up across the country. “Around one-third of these are already functional and have helped in the Covid-19 fight,” he said. The PM also added that through initiatives such as Jan Aushadhi Kendras, over 5 crore poor women have been able to get sanitary napkins at the cost of R1.
