Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has utilized the power of technology to address the healthcare challenge. The groundbreaking initiative known as Ayushman Bharat has emerged as the world's largest free healthcare program.
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NEW DELHI, INDIA - MAY 06: Medical staff attend to Covid-19 positive patients in the emergency ward at the Holy Family hospital on May 06, 2021 in New Delhi, India. India broke a fresh record on Thursday with over 412,000 new cases of Covid-19 as the total number of those infected according to Health Ministry data neared 20 million.
Enhancing Healthcare Accessibility in India
By leveraging technology, India's government aims to enhance healthcare accessibility and affordability for a significant portion of the population. Interesting Engineering reported that Ayushman Bharat represents a significant stride in strengthening the healthcare infrastructure and ensuring quality healthcare reaches the masses.
The initiative is driven by a team of highly skilled tech professionals, comprising some of the world's top talent. They have spearheaded the development of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which has the primary objective of establishing a robust digital health infrastructure that can serve as the foundation for integrated healthcare services in the country.
This mission aims to bridge the current gaps among various stakeholders within the healthcare ecosystem by leveraging digital highways. The ABDM team is committed to harnessing technology to create a seamless and interconnected healthcare system for the benefit of all.
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Through the ecosystems, this will offer a diverse range of data, information, and infrastructure services by effectively utilizing open and standards-based digital systems. Additionally, utmost importance is placed on ensuring the security, confidentiality, and privacy of personal health information throughout the ecosystem.
Launching Ayushman Bharat
Goldman Sachs reported that India Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads a technology-driven initiative to address healthcare challenges in the country. Launching Ayushman Bharat five years ago introduced the world's largest free healthcare program, consisting of the Health and Wellness Centers and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna.
HWCs focus on comprehensive primary and diagnostic care, while PM-JAY provides coverage of up to Rs. 5 lakhs per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalizations, benefiting over 550 million people.
ABDM's Goal
This will be a collaboration among healthcare technology firms, government regulators, care delivery organizations, labs, pharmacies, hospitals, and healthcare providers to ensure healthcare provision. Establishing a digital health ecosystem is the number one goal of ADBM, which enables universal health coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely, and safe manner.
According to a report from Forbes, this initiative enables the creation of secure health records and offers user-friendly interfaces, allowing individuals to easily access healthcare services on a regular basis.
This achievement is what the United States has been struggling with in the last few years. India faces a similar challenge, especially in terms of delivering cost-effective healthcare to a population that is almost five times larger than that of the United States. Additionally, the majority of India's population resides outside of major metropolitan areas.
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