PM launches Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, under which a digital health ID will be provided to citizens that will carry their health records, and said it has the potential to bring revolutionary changes in healthcare.
In his address after the virtual launch, Modi also said health has a very strong relationship with tourism as a good and integrated health infrastructure also improves the tourism sector. Noting that digital infrastructure is bringing everything from —ration to administration (Ration to Prashaasan) —to the common Indian in a fast and transparent manner, the Prime Minister said, “the way technology is being deployed in governance reforms today is unprecedented.”
The mission marks a new phase in efforts of the last seven years of strengthening health facilities, he said and added that its reliable data will lead to better treatment and savings for patients.
“These healthcare solutions are a big investment in the present and future of the country,” he added.
The scheme, which will help doctors anywhere find the medical record of a patient with the latter’s consent, will help the poor and middle class most, he said.
The pilot project of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission was announced by the prime minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2020 and was in six union territories. Now it will be rolled out nationwide.
Its nationwide roll-out coincides with the National Health Authority celebrating the third anniversary of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).
Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY, which provides health insurance up to Rs 5 lakh to the poor, has addressed a key concern in the lives of the poor who, he added, were often caught in the vicious web of economic deprivation due to health expenditure.
Modi said he has made it a point to personally meet some beneficiaries of the scheme and noted that so far more than 2 crore countrymen have availed the facility of free treatment under this scheme, half of which are women.
The digital mission will now connect the digital health solutions of hospitals across the country, Modi said and noted that there has also been an unprecedented expansion of telemedicine as well.
He also said that strengthening and integration of health infrastructure also boost the tourism sector.
With all adults receiving at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine in tourist hotspots like Goa and Himachal Pradesh, tourists will also feel safer in going there, he said.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has the potential to bring revolutionary changes to our health facilities, he said.
The prime minister noted that India has nearly 130 crore Aadhaar users, 118 crore mobile subscribers, 80 crore internet users and 43 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts, and such a connected infrastructure can be found nowhere else in the world.
The prime minister said that under the mission, the people of the country will now get a digital health ID.
Health records of every citizen will be digitally protected, he said, adding that the poor and the middle class will benefit the most from this mission.
Underscoring the importance of technology, the prime minister pointed out that the Aarogya Setu app has helped a lot in preventing the spread of coronavirus infection.
He also noted that India has been able to administer about 90 crore vaccine doses, and the Co-WIN application and its portal played a big role in it.