1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, 15 August, announced the government’s National Digital Health Mission while addressing the nation on the occasion of 74th Independence Day.
2. The mission is set to be another flagship project of the government like the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme.
3. This is a digital health ecosystem being announced by the government under which every Indian citizen will have unique health IDs, digitized health records as well as a registry of doctors and health facilities.
4. A Unique Health ID will be provided to every citizen which will contain details of their diseases, diagnoses, report, medication, etc., in a common database through a single ID. This will essentially be a digitized version of all their health records. This digital database will be linked to the registry of doctors and health facilities across the country.
5. PM Modi said that all this information about whatever medicine a doctor prescribed, when it was prescribed as well as what the reports were will be linked to a person’s health ID.
6. This ID will reportedly be applicable across states, hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, and pharmacies. The government has assured that the data provided will be protected and health records will only be shared after authorization by an individual. Similarly, it is voluntary for hospitals and doctors to provide details for the app.
7. PM Modi said that this project will leverage the power of technology to create a healthier India.
8. The blueprint of the scheme was reportedly launched in 2019 and sought to provide affordable and high-quality healthcare by leveraging open digital systems.
