Hon’ble Prime Minister announces National Digital Health Mission on India’s 74th Independence Day
On the occasion of the 74th Independence Day of India,Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today announced the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) which will leverage the power of technology to ensure the attainment of the highest possible level of health and well-being for all citizens and create a healthier nation.
The vision of NDHM is to create a national digital health ecosystem which provides timely and efficient access to inclusive, affordable, and safe healthcare to all citizens. NDHM will significantly improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of health service delivery & will be a major stride towards achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.8 of Universal Health Coverage, including financial risk protection.
Making the historic announcement from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister said that a revolution in health sectorstarts today with the launch of the National Digital Health Mission. The NDHM will bring about a revolution in the country’s health sector where technology will play a leading role in minimising the challenges citizens face while seeking healthcare. Every Indian citizen will get a Health ID which will be a repository of all health-related information, of a person, such as medical tests, previous prescriptions, diagnosis, treatments, all historical health records.
The National Digital Health Mission aims to liberate citizens from the challenges of finding the right doctors, seeking appointment with them, payment of consultation fee, making several rounds of hospitals for prescription sheets, among several others and will empower all Indians with the correct information and sources enabling them to take an informed decision to avail the best possible healthcare.
National Health Authority (NHA), the attached office of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and the apex Central Government agency responsible for the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, has been given the mandate by the Government of India to design, build, roll-out and implement the NDHM in the country. The scheme will be rolled out from today through a pilot launch in the Union Territories of Chandigarh, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, said, “I welcome the historic announcement by Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to launch the National Digital Health Mission which aims to create a national digital health ecosystem leveraging advanced information technology and innovation in data and health systems. I am pleased to share with you that the mission will be launched on pilot mode in the six Union Territories of Chandigarh, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.” Dr. Harsh Vardhan added, “Based on the initial learnings in the UTs, we will gradually work in partnership with the States to launch the NDHM. I seek the whole-hearted support, inputs and cooperation of doctors, healthcare facilities, citizens and State Governments to adopt this game-changing scheme.”
The NDHM is a holistic, voluntary healthcare programme that will reduce the existing gap betweenvarious stakeholders such as doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers, pharmacies, insurance companies, and citizensby bringing them together and connecting them in an integrated digital health infrastructure.The NDHM comprises six key building blocks or digital systemsnamely, HealthID, DigiDoctor, Health Facility Registry, Personal Health Records, e-Pharmacy & Telemedicine–that will enable access to timely, safe and affordable healthcare through a ‘citizen-centric’ approach. All of these digital products except e-Pharmacy and Telemedicine have been deployed and are up and running.
Providing details on the key components of the National Digital Health Mission, Dr. Indu Bhushan, Chief Executive Officer, National Health Authority, said, “Thecore building blocks of NDHM such as Health ID, Digi-Doctor and Health Facility Registry shall be owned, operated and maintained by the Government of India. Private stakeholders will have an equal opportunity to integrate with these building blocks and create their own products for the market. However, core activities and verifications, for example, generation of Health ID or approval of a doctor/facility shall remain with the Government. Additional components, like Personal Health Record (PHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) solutions can be developed by private players as well, in line with guidelines that will be issued. All such products by private participants shall be as per official guidelines taking care of security, privacy and standards of the NDHM ecosystem.”
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