New Delhi: The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will bridge the existing gap among different stakeholders of the healthcare ecosystem through digital highways, a senior official of Safdarjang Hospital said on Tuesday (August 22). She also said the mission has achieved a significant milestone by issuing more than 50 lakh digital tokens for queue less OPD registrations. Dr Vandana Talwar, medical superintendent, Safdarjang Hospital was speaking at the 2nd Healthcare Summit and Awards organised by Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
She also said that artificial intelligence is poised to reshape healthcare, while ML (Machine Learning) algorithms can analyse massive amounts of medical data to aid early detection and treatment of disease, and they can also optimise hospital operations and even assist in surgical procedures. Dr Talwar noted,
India is emerging as a world leader in teaching and framing of robotics in healthcare. A robotic renal transplant conducted in Safdarjang Hospital was shown live to 52 medical colleges and 20 different countries on the NFC portal recently. We are committed to improving the quality of healthcare to meet the health-related targets of the sustainable development goals that India aims to achieve via Universal Health Coverage by 2023.
She further said that the past few decades have witnessed enormous medical advancements in therapeutic and diagnostics that have revolutionised diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases. She further added,
Advances in genome sequencing technology has made personalised medicines a reality. Today, technological advancement has enabled a policy of creating a new digital ecosystem that not only enhances accessibility and efficiency of healthcare delivery, but also made it more cost effective and paves the way for universal health coverage in India that is inclusive, timely and safe.
The medical superintendent said innovations and sustainable solutions is the future of healthcare which occupies a pivotal role in the development of India today. The future belongs to a society investing in healthcare, she said,
We must design healthcare infrastructure that minimises environmental impacts, reduces waste through recycling, and reuse and adopt renewable energy sources for a more sustainable healthcare system.
Delivering a special address at the summit, Dr Rajinder K Dhamija, Director, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) said,
We have achieved a lot in the last 75 years. We are now a hub of the vaccination industry providing 60 per cent of all vaccinations in the world. We also provide 40 per cent of all generics for the US and 25 per cent of all generics in the UK, and two-thirds of all anti-viral drugs in the world comes from India. The healthcare industry is worth USD 50 billion and growing at a fast pace. India spends 4-5 per cent of GDP on health which is comparatively lower than countries like Australia at 12 per cent and Switzerland at 17 per cent.
Dr Dhamija said,
We need to increase our spending on health. Our per capita expenditure on health has increased over the past 10 years and the insurance sector is coming in a big way and so is digital health. We are lagging in manpower, that is , for a population of 1.4 billion people, we have only 3,000 neurologists while there is a need for at least five times that number.
Addressing the summit, Pushpa Vijayaraghavan, Director – Healthcare and Life Sciences, Sathguru Management Consultants, said there is a need to urgently address the continuing challenge of resource scarcity. The number of doctors per individuals and the number of beds per individuals are currently below what it should be and we cannot bridge it without integrating technology in a big way. India’s presidency of G20 has brought digital health to the fore, she said.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
