NEW DELHI: Announcing the National Digital Health Mission during his address to the nation on the occasion of 74th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was the need of the hour, given that the country is battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ‘One Nation One Health Card’ scheme will help people get better healthcare facilities in the country. A person’s medical history, records such as tests, diagnosis, and treatments will be saved in a digital form as database. These can be accessed by an authorised person from anywhere in the country.
A unique ID will be issued to every citizen who opts for this card, through which he/she will be able to log in to the system, reports suggested.
If and when a card-holder gets a test, diagnosis or treatment for any medical condition, the reports will be saved in the card. This will reduce the burden of carrying around medical records and reports, in case a patient needs to travel to other parts of the country for treatments. The doctors will be able to access such medical records with the help of the unique ID of the card.
Apart from the above benefits for the card-holders, healthcare centres such as hospitals will enjoy the following benefits from the ‘One Nation, One Health Card’ scheme. The scheme is also likely to be extended to include pharmacies and medical stores into the servers as well, in the future.
Hospitals, clinics, and doctors will all be linked to a central server. However, this will be an optional service to avail.
The scheme is likely to be implemented in a few phases.
Keeping in view digital privacy concerns, reports suggest that the data will be kept safe and secure.
Health Card is likely to be made on the lines of Aaadhar Card with the exception of this card being optional for the public.
