At the Digital Health Summit 2023, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, the Hon’ble Minister of State for Health
& Family Welfare, said, “Through a common digital framework, India aims to create and curate Digital Public Goods, enhance access to these tools by nations throughout the world, and promote standards for interoperability, data privacy, and data security.” Confederate of Indian Industry (CII) organised the event in Goa yesterday in collaboration with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
The event’s topic, “Building One Health Together – Improving Health Equity,” aimed to bring together policymakers, business executives, and international healthcare professionals and thought leaders to discuss the major problems facing the digital health industry.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Pawar thanked the attendees and noted that the event aligns with the goals of the One Earth, One Family, One Future initiative of the G20 Health Working Group for India, which focuses on digital health innovations and solutions to support universal health coverage. She emphasised the significance of digital health breakthroughs by pointing out how they fuel technologies like 3D printing, point-of-care diagnostics, robots, bioinformatics, and genomics that are revolutionising the field of exponential medicine and acting as both an enabler and an equaliser. She stressed that the goal must continue to be “citizen-centric” digital health systems with fair access to high-quality treatments and adoption.
Speaking about various government of India initiatives like the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the e-Sanjeevani Teleconsultation service, the Ayushman Bharat-Prandhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), and CoWIN and their role in strengthening the development of a digital health ecosystem in the nation, Dr. Pawar said that these initiatives would help us in achieving the goal of improving health service accessibility and equity throughout the nation.
Dr. Pawar emphasised that it is past due for the delivery of healthcare services to the general public to be reorganised to take advantage of modern technology. According to her, “Emerging technologies like AI, the Internet of things (IoT), Blockchain, 3-D printing in medical device manufacturing, etc. can help create a more holistic health ecosystem that improves health outcomes.”A global strategy is frequently more effective,” she continued, “and India, while holding the G-20 Presidency, has already prioritised digital health as one of its three health objectives, seeking global consensus on a global digital framework.
The Hon. Chief Minister of Goa, Dr. Pramod Sawant, emphasised that health technology is the most critical part of the fourth Industrial Revolution and that prevention still holds the key. According to him, Goa was developing one of India’s best public health infrastructures and was the first to introduce Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana (DDSSY). This programme provides universal healthcare insurance for all citizens. He stated, “Goa has been the second fastest adopter of digital services in the country and has been giving enormous support to promote startup systems providing patient-centric care with the help of health tech, ” praising the state’s speedy adoption of digital services. He continued that the policy discussions and necessary legislation in this area “will pave the way for more public-private partnerships to attract more investments in health tech.”
Dr Vinod Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, put it plainly when he said that India is taking proactive measures by having already built a structure, fabric, platform, and highway. He claimed that the government is collaborating with stakeholders to create acceptable standards for testing the technology. This includes the validation of wearable devices and AI equipment in health systems. He also exhorted the private sector to offer sound reasoning, vision, ideas, and solutions so that they might be applied to various goods and opportunities. Finally, he emphasised the significance of building the ability to evaluate and derive insightful knowledge from the digital data that is generated daily.
Other insightful talks on important topics, such as “Leveraging and Collecting Health Data Towards Achieving the Vision of “Health for All,” “Innovating in Digital Health,” and “Driven Investments in the Future of Digital Health,” took place during the session.
Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman of the CII Healthcare Council, Mr. Shashank ND, Chairman of the CII Subcommittee on Digital Health, Mr. Mark Pearson, Deputy Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Mr. Luigi D’Aquino, Chief of Health, UNICEF India, Mr. Rajesh Bhushan, Additional Secretary, MoHFW, Mr. Lav Agarwal.
