- PM Modi’s visionary Digital Health Mission will include a health ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account
- The PM-DHM has the power to revolutionize the healthcare infrastructure of the country, as it will bring the cost of healthcare at least 10 times lower and make healthcare services accessible to everyone.
In the last few years, the Modi government has made a lot of emphasis on public healthcare. And the positive result of this was visible during the Coronavirus pandemic, when millions of Indians got treatment under the Ayushman Bharat Yojna. Taking the health initiative a step further, the Prime Minister has launched Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, also known as Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission or the National Digital Health Mission.
The Digital Health Mission has the power to revolutionize the healthcare infrastructure of the country as it will bring the cost of healthcare at least 10 times lower and make healthcare services accessible to everyone.
The key components of PM-DHM 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. Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.
These initiatives will make the life of doctors and their patients easier, by weeding out thousands of repetitive medical tests and check-ups and by promoting telemedicine. The initiatives will also reduce the cost of healthcare, and would give the country a healthcare infrastructure in the next few years that is unparalleled in the world.
Moreover, it would make Indian companies in the field of healthcare globally competitive – thus the Google of healthcare may come from India. Also, it would promote medical tourism at an unprecedented rate, given the reputation of Indian doctors around the world.
“Today begins a Mission that has power to bring a revolutionary change in India’s health facilities. Three years ago, on Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary, Ayushman Bharat Yojana was implemented. Happy that Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is being started nationwide from today,” the Prime Minister said during the launch event.
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During the Coronavirus pandemic, India proved its mettle in utilizing digital technology for Covid care (through Aarogya Setu) and Vaccination (Cowin). India’s vaccination program is drawing laurels from countries that genuinely want to rid themselves of Covid-19. And such countries realize that the Cowin system can be a formidable tool for them to counter the difficulties imposed by the pandemic.
So, while the first world countries sulk in their corners while witnessing India’s tremendous success, at least 50 countries from across Central Asia, Latin America, and Africa have expressed their interest in gaining technological insight from India, specifically with the Cowin portal.
India had decided in June itself to share the open-source of Cowin with 50 countries showing interest in the platform as India’s tremendous pace of vaccination gets the world gasping with adulation. National Health Authority CEO RS Sharma had stated that the government will create an open-source version of Cowin to let other countries use it free of cost.
The digital health mission would make globally reputed Indian doctors available to countries around the world. The patients in western countries, where the healthcare cost is among the highest in the world, would rather choose Indian doctors, and this has the potential to bring billions of dollars to India every year.
The western countries have been leaders in physical infrastructure, but when it comes to digital infrastructure, India is emerging as the global leader. The digital infrastructure in India to facilitate banking and finance (Indiastack), healthcare services (Healtstack) is winning laurels from the people like Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, and Sundar Pichai. India is set to emerge as the global leader in areas such as fintech and health-tech in the next few decades.