New Delhi, Sep 27 (FN Agency) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission and pushed for enhancing the use of telemedicine to connect hospitals digitally, provide a unique digital health ID to people and maintain their health records. Lauding the digital infrastructure created over recent years, the Prime Minister, through video conferencing, said, “Digital infrastructure is delivering ‘Ration to Prashasan’ to the common Indian in a fast and transparent manner.” With 130 crore Aadhaar cards, 118 crore mobile subscribers, around 80 crore internet users and about 43 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts, India has the biggest “connected infrastructure” in the world, he said.
Modi said the Arogya Setu app has helped in preventing the spread of corona infections. He also lauded CoWIN app for its role in making India achieve a record administration of about 90 crore vaccine doses so far. He said there has been an unprecedented expansion of telemedicine during Covid-19 pandemic and about 125 crores remote consultations have been completed through e-Sanjeevani till now. “This facility has connected thousands of people, who are living in far-flung parts of the country, every day with doctors of big hospitals in cities while sitting at home,” Modi said. He said Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY has so far covered more than 2 crore people, who availed the facility of free treatment under this scheme, adding that half of beneficiaries of this scheme are women. As healthcare expenditure a major factor for pushing people into poverty, the Prime Minister said, “these healthcare solutions are a big investment in the present and future of the country.”
“These healthcare solutions are a big investment in the present and future of the country,” he said. He said the newly launched mission would connect digital health solutions of hospitals across the country and also provide a unique health ID to people. “Ayushman Bharat – Digital Mission, will now connect the digital health solutions of hospitals across the country with each other. The mission will not only make the processes of hospitals simplified but also will increase ease of living. Every citizen will now get a digital health ID and their health record will be digitally protected,” he said. While stressing on a holistic and inclusive approach towards health, he said India is working on a health model that would stress on preventive healthcare and easy, affordable and accessible treatment for diseases. Talking about the health reforms undertaken in the country, he said the numbers of doctors and paramedical staff has increased over the years, and a comprehensive network of AIIMS and other modern health institutions is being established across the country. He said work is going on for establishing at least one medical college for every three Lok Sabha constituencies.
The network of primary health centre and wellness centres across villages is being strengthened, he said, adding “More than 80,000 such centres have already been operationalised.” The pilot project of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission had been announced by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15 last year. Currently, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is being implemented in pilot phase in six Union Territories. The nationwide rollout of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission coincides with third anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. According to officials, the Mission will create a seamless online platform by providing a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services related to healthcare. The key components of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission include a health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application. The Mission will create interoperability within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface in revolutionising payments, said government officials.