India discusses opportunities, challenges during implementation of digital health at BRICS

India hosted the BRICS Digital Health Summit on Friday, 3 September 2021, and discussed various measures taken by the Indian government to promote digital health. In tandem with the goals set by BRICS countries to propagate the use of digital health during the pandemic, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar informed the BRICS countries on the opportunities and challenges that India faced during the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to the digital health propagation.

During the conclave, Union Health Secretary Rakesh Bhushan was also present and he brought the focus on the full adoption of digital health technologies during the pandemic. He also asserted that active case finding, surveillance and communication with common citizens was India's top strategy to battle the pandemic.

Digital Health has become a priority during COVID-19: Dr Pawar

Addressing the conclave, Dr Pawar acknowledged that digital health has become the priority in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As per the statement released by the Ministry of Health, Dr Pawar said, "The two waves presented us with unique challenges for which an effective and humane centralized response sensitive to regional needs was warranted. Digital health was aptly utilized to manage the pandemic and enabled us for a much more scientific and data-driven approach for strengthening our response. "
 

NDMH will streamline India's Digital Health Mission: Dr Pawar

She went on to say that India's National Digital Health Blueprint serves as an overall architectural framework for digital activities in the country. "We are implementing the recommendations for streamlining the digital health programmes through National Digital Health Mission (NDHM). NDHM through the issue of Unique Health ID will create a single source of truth for facilities and practitioners and lead to an extension of various health services through digital mode."

Dr Pawar stated that a BRICS digital health platform is urgently needed to ensure that health data is available in an interoperable manner across BRICS countries to enable continuity of care.

"We need to work closely and collaboratively to create a repository of evidence-based digital health best practices for global good. Such framework should enable data sharing and availability and help in augmenting the global capabilities to coordinate, capture and share data for protection from disease outbreaks like the present COVID-19 pandemic," she added.

On technologies adopted by the Indian government during COVID-19, she said, "We initiated a robust mechanism through a national COVID portal which integrated surveillance, testing, logistic management, data-driven analytics etc. We popularized Arogya Setu and ITIHAS application - Digital Surveillance Application to source data from citizens and to predict the upcoming hotpots in the community. Arogya Setu became one of the most downloaded applications with more than 201 million downloads. Similarly, to take health services to the doorstep of citizens, we are augmenting the National telemedicine platform (eSanjeevani) of India and establishing telemedicine HUBs with dedicated doctors in all Districts. The HUBs will serve all facilities in their region, for both COVID and non-COVID health care support."

She further emphasised that some of these platforms will have a long-term effect on health and governance, "India is leveraging the Disease Surveillance Programme through an Integrated Health Information Platform which source real-time data from facilities on 33 Epidemic Prone Diseases for community surveillance. India is undertaking the World's largest vaccine drive and the whole effort is being managed through the digital tool, Co-WIN (Winning over COVID). Co-WIN has been declared as a global good by the Government of India for adoption by any country for managing their vaccination drive, not only limiting to COVID but for conventional immunization also," added Dr Pawar.

(With ANI Inputs)

Image: Twitter/ Health Ministry