The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has launched Aarogya Path, a web-based solution for the healthcare supply chain, which provides real-time availability of critical supplies. Aarogya Path would serve manufacturers, suppliers, and customers through the web portal https://www.aarogyapath.in.
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a situation of national health emergency,leading to severe disruption in the supply chain. In particular, the ability to produce and deliver thecritical items was compromised due to a variety of reasons. This integrated public platform, named AarogyaPath, has been developed with thevision of “providing a path which leads one on a journey towards Aarogya (healthy life)” to address the challenges related to the supply of essential healthcare goods.
This platform provides a single-point source for key healthcare goods, which could help customers in tackling a number of routinely experienced issues. The issues include dependence on limited suppliers, time-consuming processes to identify good quality products, limited access to suppliers who can supply standardized products at reasonable prices within desired timelines, lack of awareness about the latest product launches, etc.
This portal was launched by Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in the presence of DG-CSIR, Dr Shekhar C. Mande. Sudhir Garg, Joint Secretary, Ministry of MSME, and Dr Vijay Chauthiawale, Pharma Sector Expert, were guests of honour at this event.
AarogyaPath also helps manufacturers and suppliersto reach a wide network of customers efficiently, overcoming gaps in connectivity between them and potential demand centres like nearby pathological laboratories, medical stores, and hospitals.
It will also create opportunities for business expansion due to an expanded slate of buyers and visibility of new requirements for products. Over time, analytics from this platform is expected to generate early signals to manufacturers on over capacity as well as on looming shortages. This would help to reduce wastage of resources due to inefficient forecasting and excess manufacturing, and generate awareness about the demand for new technologies.
Dr Shekhar Mande complemented the CSIR team involved in development of the portal, which was led by Dr Anjan Ray, Director CSIR-IIP. The portal was developed in partnership with Sarvodaya Infotech. Institutional users and manufacturers/authorized suppliers of healthcare essentials are encouraged to register and participate actively.
CSIR expects AarogyaPath to become the national healthcare information platform of choice in the years to come, filling a critical gap in last-mile delivery of patient care within India through improved availability and affordability of healthcare supplies. (India Science Wire)
