UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – Health/Gov. Policies)

Context: NITI Aayog, inaugurated a National Conference on “Universal Access to Healthcare: Digital Solutions” in New Delhi.

Universal Access to Healthcare: Digital Solutions

• Organized by: NITI Ayog and the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
• Collaboration: National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India in collaboration with the Sankala Foundation.
• It is a non-profit organisation registered in 2022 under Section (8) of the Companies Act, 2013 of India.
• Objective: To bring together practitioners, government officials, leading experts, innovators and policy makers in the field of healthcare and digital healthcare technology to explore the way forward for universal access to affordable and quality healthcare services especially to people living in rural, remote and hilly areas.
• Three Technical Sessions: Models of Change in Healthcare’, `Future Frontiers in Digital Health’, and `Technology-enabled Universal Health Coverage.’

Digital Health Initiatives of India

• Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH): The GIDH is a WHO managed network which was unanimously adopted by all G20 countries, invited countries and international organizations.
• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission: rephrase: It aims to provide digital health IDs for all Indian citizens to help hospitals, insurance firms, and citizens access health records electronically when required.
• National Digital Health Mission (NDHM): To provide every citizen with a unique health id ndhm and enable access to their health records through a digital platform.