Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya
”Now common citizens will also be able to consult the big doctors of the country! ”On the occasion of the 4th anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres, ‘e-Sanjeevani Tele-consultation’ facility will be launched at 1 lakh centres on April 16” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted
The National Health Authority (NHA), the implementing agency for the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, has invited expressions of interest in developing innovative solutions that will help build a national digital health ecosystem
New Delhi:
Tele-consultation facility ‘e-Sanjeevani’ will start at 1 lakh Ayushman Bharat-Health and Wellness Centres (AB-HWCs) from April 16, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday.
Mandaviya had chaired a virtual meeting on Tuesday with health ministers and senior officials of all the states and union territories to review the operationalisation status of AB-HWCs and tele-consultation services.
”Now common citizens will also be able to consult the big doctors of the country! ”On the occasion of the 4th anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres, ‘e-Sanjeevani Tele-consultation’ facility will be launched at 1 lakh centres on April 16. These centres are realising PM @NarendraModi ji’s resolve of ‘Ayushman Bharat’,” Mandaviya said in a tweet in Hindi on Friday.
As many as 1,17,440 AB-HWCs had been operationalised across the country by the end of March against the target of 1.1 lakh, according to the health ministry.
Earlier, Mandaviya, said that the pharmaceutical industry has a vital role to play in realizing the vision of Aatma Nirbhar Bharat.
Addressing ‘Indian Pharma – Global Health Care’ event to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Indian Drug Manufacturers’ Association (IDMA) in Mumbai, the Minister underlined how government initiatives such as Production Linked Incentive Scheme has been benefiting the sector.
“Through Production Linked Incentive Scheme, the government has tried to reduce imports by encouraging domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals. PLI scheme has led to initiate production of more than 35 products in India,” he said. The Minister exhorted the pharmaceutical sector to prepare a plan for the next 25 years.
“Government is helping the industry by amending Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and promoting Ease of Doing Business. We are involving the industry in decision-making processes. Also, through a series of webinars, the government has tried to reach out and consult industry and other stakeholders on the implementation of Union Budget provisions,” he said.
The Union Minister said that the Government is pro-poor, and pro-farmer and stresses that it is also industry-friendly. Recalling the contribution of the pharma sector, the Minister said that the Indian pharma industry has earned India the honour of being referred to as the ‘pharmacy of the world.’
“Government does not view health sector as a profit-making industry. When we export medicines, we do it with an attitude of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, India supplied medicines to 125 countries,” Mandaviya added.
Union Pharma Secretary Ms S Aparna laid thrust on the role of innovation and research in ensuring the growth and development of the pharma sector and appealed to IDMA to develop a strategy to exploit this opportunity. The secretary also called upon IDMA and the industry to address the problems in strategy and plans in order to build an acceptable level of drug security on a sustainable basis.
Meanwhile, the National Health Authority (NHA), the implementing agency for the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, has invited expressions of interest in developing innovative solutions that will help build a national digital health ecosystem.
This collaborative approach will not just help speed up the development but also help in making digital public goods available to public and/or private entities, the NHA said in a statement on Thursday.
Interested parties shall provide these solutions as a service at no cost to public and private entities, it said.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) aims to create a seamless online platform that will enable interoperability within the digital healthcare ecosystem. The mission has been conceptualized as a set of ‘digital building blocks’.
Each building block is seen as a ‘digital public good’ that can be used by any entity in the digital health ecosystem and provides key capabilities that enable the ABDM vision, the statement said.
On the invitation for expressions of interest (EoI), NHA CEO R S Sharma said, ”The ABDM endeavours to give impetus to open and interoperable standards in the digital health ecosystem. Such an undertaking will not only expedite universal health coverage goals in India, but also have ripple effects on the global health ecosystem.”
”However, such an ambition requires all hands on deck. In this regard, the National Health Authority is giving an open call inviting all interested parties to contribute to the Unified Health Interface (UHI), Health Claims Protocol (HCP), and various other open-source digital public goods being created to expand the digital health ecosystem.”
Currently there are over 800 participants integrated with ABDM’s registries and enabling health data exchange through the Health Information Exchange & Consent Manager (HIE-CM).
The interested developers and parties can also make a significant contribution to the national digital health ecosystem development by sharing their EoI.
The NHA intends to develop a digital platform similar to the Unified Payment Interface or UPI) for interoperability between various digital solutions to facilitate various stakeholders using disparate solutions to communicate, according to the statement.
Interested parties are also invited to contribute through open-source software solutions that can be made available for use by various entities.
Those having any other idea for contributing to the cause of development of national digital health ecosystem may also reach out to it with specific proposal.
The NHA is keen to collaborate with all technology providers and individuals to build a digital health network that works for all. Those interested may submit their expressions of interest for their intended purpose with details to the NHA through email to abdm@nha.gov.in, the statement said.