India a lighthouse country in global digital health arena: JP Nadda

New Delhi: India is a lighthouse country in the digital health arena, said Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Monday, while lauding the country’s various health initiatives that aims to provide health cover for all.

Speaking at the 77th session of WHO Southeast Asia Region (SEARO), Nadda said the country’s approach to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) emphasises strengthening primary health care and essential services.

In his inaugural address, he highlighted several health initiatives in the country such as the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY), National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs), and e-Sanjeevani, among others.

“India as a lighthouse country in the digital health arena, is poised to share its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPIs) such as Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, e-Sanjeevani, Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP), SAKSHAM, etc. by providing technical and financial support through the Global Initiative on Digital Health — a WHO-managed network, launched during India’s G20 Presidency,” Nadda said.

On AB PM-JAY, the Union Minister said that it is “the world’s largest publicly funded health assurance scheme”, which is in line with the commitment to provide health coverage for all.

“The initiative covers over 120 million families, providing an annual hospitalisation benefit of $6,000 per family,” Nadda said.

He stated that the government recently expanded the scheme to provide free health coverage to all citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of income group. The initiative reflects the government’s commitment to ensuring universal and inclusive healthcare for India’s growing elderly demographic — projected to double by 2050.

“The expansion will benefit around 45 million families, including 60 million elderly population, by providing them free health insurance coverage,” Nadda said.

Further, the health minister informed that to address the rising cases of hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases the country has since 2010 “implemented the National Programme for Prevention and Control by non-communicable diseases (NCDs)”.

This initiative has led to the establishment of 753 NCD clinics, 356 daycare centres, and 6,238 Community Health Centers to focus on preventive measures at an early stage.

He also stated that “India has conceptualised the online digital platform UWIN, for the Universal Immunization Programme”. This comes after the remarkable success of the CoWIN digital platform during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UWIN portal will register, track, and monitor all vaccination events and also aid in linking and providing immunisation records of 30 million newborns and mothers every year.

–IANS