Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission launched; digital health ID for every citizen now

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In an attempt to bring revolutionary changes to health facilities, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission via video conferencing. The pilot project of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission had been announced by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of Red Fort on 15th August, 2020. Currently, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is being implemented in the pilot phase in six union territories. While addressing the nation on the launch of the mission, Prime Minister applauded India’s well-connected health infrastructure and said the country had nearly 130 crore Aadhaar users, 118 crore mobile subscribers, 43 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts. PM Modi said through this the government aims to enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent. The key feature of the mission is that now every citizen will have a health ID card and digitally secure health records.

The personal health records will be be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application, a Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.

The 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.

With this mission, the citizens will be able to access quality healthcare services with ease.

Earlier the press release by the PMO said, “The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Sandbox, created as a part of the mission, will act as a framework for technology and product testing that will help organisations, including private players, intending to be a part of the National Digital Health Ecosystem become a health information provider or a health information user or efficiently link with building blocks of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.”

This mission will create interoperability within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface in revolutionising payments.

(With inputs from Press Information Bureau)