‘India has taken a quantum leap in leveraging digital health solutions’

India has taken a quantum leap in leveraging digital solutions for effective health service delivery, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. Digital health interventions are not limited to individual healthcare delivery programmes but are spread across multiple health outcomes, catering to both communicable and non-communicable diseases, he said. The minister was speaking at the concluding day of the “Global Conference on Digital Health – Taking Universal Health Coverage to the Last Citizen”, a co-branded event under India’s G20 presidency organised by the WHO South-East Asia Region in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. In his address, Mandaviya said India has taken a quantum leap towards leveraging digital health solutions for effective health service delivery. “In the maternal and child health domain, India has created name-based database of 200 million-plus eligible couples, 140 million pregnant women and 120 million children, who are being monitored for ante-natal, post-natal and immunization related health services. “Another key example is the NIKSHAY intervention under the National TB Elimination Programme, through which more than 11 million patients are tracked for adherence to TB treatment,” he stated. Highlighting India’s achievements in digital health and service delivery domain, Mandaviya stated that India’s focus on comprehensive primary healthcare is underlined with the NCD application, through which more than 15 million population of 30-plus age has been screened for five non-communicable diseases (NCDs).