Nadda says digital health can reduce inequity, medical errors

New Delhi: Stressing on taping the potential of Digital India, Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Wednesday said that the digital health has great potential towards reducing inequity in provisioning and distribution of healthcare resources and services.

While speaking at the Global Digital Health Partnership Symposium in Sydney (Australia), Nadda said, "The digital health has great potential towards reducing inequity in provisioning and distribution of healthcare resources and services."

"It can greatly facilitate proactive treatment for disabled patients, children with developmental delays and deformities and people suffering from mental health illnesses and for those suffering from stigmatic infections such as HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis," the minister said in his address.

While speaking on the topic 'The role of digital health in supporting improved health outcomes in India', Nadda said, "It is evident from experiences of various countries that well-designed digital health systems and services can reduce medical errors and cost of care while improving health system efficiency."

"We have seen many sectors benefitting from digital revolutions in the past such as retail, banking, logistics etc. The next decade of the digital revolution is going to be seen in healthcare; in fact, the digital revolution is long overdue in healthcare which can transform the way our physicians, nurses, field staff and hospitals work to deliver care," the minister stated.

According to the statement, Nadda informed the participants that the National Health Policy (2017) of India clearly articulates the healthcare aspirations of people of India with three distinct goals.

"The first goal is to ensure district-level electronic database of information on health system components by 2020, which largely means moving away from paper-based data collection and recording in public health system to use of sophisticated computerized tools for improving the functioning of hospitals and health system," he said.

"The second goal is to strengthen the health surveillance system and establish registries for diseases of public health importance by 2020, where we intend to create registries to support epidemiological profiling of diseases to be better informed for targeted health interventions," the minister said.