Bill Gates congratulates PM Modi on the launch of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

Co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist Bill Gates congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission recently. He also mentioned that this digital health initiative will help India achieve its health goals.

“Congratulations Narendra Modi on the national launch of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. This digital health infrastructure will help ensure equitable, accessible healthcare delivery and accelerate progress on India’s health goals,” Gates tweeted.

The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, launched by Prime Minister Modi on Monday, is aimed at providing every Indian citizen with a digital health ID. This digital health ID will act as a health account for citizens and will comprise all the information vis-à-vis the medical history of a patient along with doctors’ prescriptions which can be accessed anywhere across India by patients and doctors. During the launch event, PM Modi said that the service will not only improve ease of doing business but also ease of living. He added that a better digital health infrastructure will lead to a rise in tourism.

This, however, is not the first time that the billionaire philanthropist has appreciated India’s strides in the healthcare sector. Earlier this month, the entrepreneur lauded India’s investments towards increasing its vaccine manufacturing capacity.

The entrepreneur, who was recently in the news for his separation from Melinda Gates, mentioned that expanding geography of vaccine manufacturing for meeting requirements both in case of a pandemic and regular vaccination is extremely critical. Gates also said in a video made for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “A few decades ago, India invested in its health capabilities. Building research infrastructure in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune. Today, two-thirds of all the world’s children receive a vaccine that was made in India.”

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