PM Modi launches Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission which will offer a digital health ID to every citizen of the country.
 
The pilot project of the Mission was announced by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15, 2020, and it was being implemented in pilot phase in six Union Territories.
 
The digital health ID provided under the Mission will also act as a health account for the citizens and will have all the information about the medical history of a patient, along with prescriptions by doctors, which can be accessed anywhere in the country by the patient as well as doctors.
 
Speaking at the launch of the Mission, the prime minister said Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission can bring revolutionary changes in health facilities in the country. The launch of the Mission is a part of the efforts being made by the government over the past seven years to provide holistic health services across the country.
 
In the absence of digital health records, Modi said, patients have to carry all their past medical files while visiting hospitals. The absence of such records also leads to wastage of time in emergency situations, the prime minister said, adding that the Mission will help the poor and middle class people the most.
 
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The launch of the service will improve not only the ease of doing business but also ease of living. A better digital infrastructure for health sector will also result in increase in tourism, the prime minister said.
 
Talking about the government's use of technology, the prime minister said India has 130 crore Aadhaar cards, 118 crore mobile subscribers, 80 crore internet users, 43 crore Jan Dhan bank accounts. He said no other country in the world has such connected infrastructure.
 
The digital infrastructure is helping in the speedy and transparent delivery of services from ration to administration, he said.
 
Listing out the government's efforts to improve health services, Modi said more AIIMS are being set up in the country along with reforms in medical education sector, which will result in more doctors and manpower for providing health services. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the government is also working on setting up health and critical care infrastructure in all the districts of the country, the prime minister said.
 
Oxygen plants and health infrastructure for child care are also being set up in all districts and blocks of the country, he said.
 
The nationwide rollout of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission coincided with National Health Authority (NHA) celebrating the third anniversary of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

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