New Delhi (NVI): India is a step closer to an ambitious digital health eco-system, which will integrate existing applications in health domain and the relevant data existing in silos, as a National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) was submitted to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan here on October 29.
The final NDHB report was submitted to the Health Minister by the chairman of the National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) Committee J. Satyanarayana.
Speaking on the occasion, Vardhan said, “NDHB will help in providing a common platform for integration of existing applications in health domain and data which has existed in silos, either in public health facility, or, in private healthcare facility, in India.”
“It was also updated that building on the initial document of “National Health Stack” (NHS) by NitiAayog, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has defined clear timelines, targets and the resources required for this digital convergence of Healthcare programmes in India.”
Vardhan referred that the vision of Prime Minister is to reach every individual of the country with services at their doorstep under Digital India Programme and hoped that implementation of NDHB with programmes of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare would benefit every individual.
He also urged the stakeholders to work towards implementing the National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) in a time-bound manner, stating, “NDHB is just a beginning, it gives us a direction and a path to move towards strengthening healthcare delivery systems.”
“Government is committed to ensuring high-quality healthcare, accessible to all upto the last mile. The digital health interventions are accelerating this transformation and have a huge potential for supporting Universal Health care,” he said.
“The need of the hour is to create an ecosystem which can integrate the existing disparate health information systems and show clear path for upcoming programmes. There is a need to ensure convergence across these IT systems to monitor and provide health services in a robust and efficient manner,” he added.
He further added, “Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has initiated efforts in the direction of a comprehensive, nationwide integrated e-Health system under National Digital Health Blueprint.”
He also congratulated Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Secretary, Preeti Sudan, and J.Satyanarayana for this extensive exercise which would transform India into a Digital healthcare economy and urged all stakeholders to work towards implementing the blueprint in a time-bound manner.
Meanwhile, at the event, J. Satyanarayana provided a brief overview of the efforts that have gone into the preparation of NDHB report and made a brief presentation on the overall framework as proposed in NDHB.
“The priorities of Government of India in health care were included in the National Health Policy 2017 and this recommendation report by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has shown the implementation angle for achieving the same,” said Satyanarayana.
He further added that this may be considered as the biggest leap of GoI towards achieving the goal of Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC) with impetus on Digital Healthcare component.
The event was also attended by DG, NIC, Neeta Verma, NITI Aayog Advisor (Health) Alok Kumar and senior officials of the Ministry.
–PS
