Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission: 'Extraordinary phase'

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Monday (27) launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission under which a digital health ID will be provided to the people and it will contain their health records.

The mission’s pilot project was announced by Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi during his Independence-Day speech in 2020.

“Today is a very important day. 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,” Modi said.

Recalling the launch of Ayushman Bharat in 2018, the prime minister expressed happiness over the rollout of the digital mission three years later. He also said the scheme will benefit the poor and middle class the most by eliminating all problems they encounter while getting medical treatment.

Modi also praised CoWin, the government’s centralised digital service provider which keeps records for Covid-19 vaccination appointments and certificates, saying “from registration to certification, no system is as massive”. He also credited the platform saying it played a “big role” in India’s mega drive of vaccinating a major part (863 million at the time of writing this report) of its massive population.

“It will bring all stakeholders in the field of health on a single platform and also help a patient connect with a doctor who speaks the same language,” Modi said.

The nationwide rollout of the digital mission coincides with the National Health Authority celebrating the third anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, a statement said. The prime minister’s office said in a release that the mission will help access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.

The project will include a health identity for every citizen which will also serve as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and seen with the aid of a mobile application, a healthcare professionals registry and healthcare facilities registries that will be a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine. According to the statement, this will help the doctors, hospitals and healthcare service providers in doing their business.