Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission via video conferencing. Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya also attended the launch event.
While launching the Ayushman Bharat digital mission, PM Modi said: “The drive to strengthen the health facilities of the country, in the last 7 years, is entering a new phase today. This is not an ordinary phase. This is an extraordinary phase.”
The nationwide rollout of the mission coincides with National Health Authority (NHA) celebrating the third anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).
Currently, over one lakh unique health IDs have been created under the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
Based on the foundations laid down in the form of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity and other digital initiatives of the government, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will create a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
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It will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent, the PMO said.
Key components of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
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; a Healthcare Professionals Registry and Healthcare Facilities Registries that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine. This Mission aims to create interoperability within the digital health ecosystem.
Mission to leverage technology
A day before the launch, PM Modi took to Twitter, describing September 27 as an “important day for India’s healthcare sector.” “27th September is an important day for India’s healthcare sector. At 11 AM, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission would be launched. This Mission leverages technology to improve access to healthcare and opens doors for new innovation in the sector,” he tweeted.
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, the programme is being implemented in the pilot phase in six union territories.
These UTs are Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Ladakh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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