India Committed to Minimizing Digital Health Divide, Says Niti Aayog Member
India is committed to reducing the digital health divide by promoting digital solutions and innovation to aid universal health coverage, according to Dr VK Paul, Niti Aayog member (Health). Speaking at an event related to the 3rd Health Working Group of G20 India, Dr Paul said that India’s digital goods are for the world, and that the country’s digital infrastructure and capabilities are enablers of global economic growth and human development.
Key Points:
– India is committed to minimizing the digital health divide by promoting digital solutions and innovation to aid universal health coverage.
– Digital health, through initiatives such as telemedicine and mobile apps, can enable universal health coverage by increasing access to people irrespective of location or socio-economic status.
– The G20 Health Working Group is deliberating to create a global digital health initiative to provide a platform to promote equitable access to digital tools and technologies among the concerned countries towards ensuring universal health coverage.
– Digital technologies are playing a crucial role in healthcare and are changing rapidly from artificial intelligence to 5G virtual reality and blockchain.
– India’s G20 presidency focuses on three priorities in the health track: health emergency prevention, preparedness and response; strengthening cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector; and digital health innovations and solutions to aid universal health coverage and improve healthcare service delivery.
Dr Paul gave the keynote address for the event titled ‘Digital Health Innovations and Solutions to Aid Universal Health Coverage and Improve Healthcare Service Delivery’ during the second day of the G20 meet in the city. He quoted a previous statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Digital India, saying “I dream of a digital India with quality healthcare accessible right up to the remotest regions powered by e-healthcare.”
Dr Paul said that deliberations in the health working groups suggest that digital technologies can play a very critical role in achieving universal health coverage and combating health emergencies. Digital health, through initiatives such as telemedicine and mobile apps, can enable universal health coverage by increasing access to people irrespective of location or socio-economic status.
The G20 Health Working Group is deliberating to create a global digital health initiative to provide a platform to promote equitable access to digital tools and technologies among the concerned countries towards ensuring universal health coverage. “There is concurrence among the participating countries and multilateral agencies that a global system of this nature should be created that should become an enabler of universal health coverage through technologies,” Dr Paul stated.
Digital technologies are playing a crucial role in healthcare and are changing rapidly from artificial intelligence to 5G virtual reality and blockchain. Dr Paul said that there is an agreement to build a platform where digital health tools are stored in a repository and are made accessible to any country or partner. He cited the example of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, saying “it brings together state government, Union government, laboratories, insurance providers, health tech companies, doctors, NGOs program managers, other stakeholders keeping the citizens at the center of the endeavors.”
India’s G20 presidency focuses on three priorities in the health track. One of the priorities is health emergency prevention, preparedness and response with a focus on antimicrobial resistance and the One Health framework. The other is strengthening cooperation in the pharmaceutical sector with a focus on access and availability to safe, effective, quality, and affordable medical countermeasures. The third is digital health innovations and solutions to aid universal health coverage and improve healthcare service delivery.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr Christopher Elias, President, Global Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said the world has seen momentum in the development of lower and middle-income countries in the last decade, especially after the Covid pandemic. World Health Organization official Dr Alain Labrique said “quality, efficiency, equity, and inclusion” of global health systems will depend on how the group works together. Meanwhile, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that all countries need to be adequately prepared for the next pandemic and must act with “a sense of urgency”. He urged all the stakeholders to come together and act for ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’, the theme of India G20 Presidency.
The 3rd Health Working Group meeting as part of G20 India Presidency is being held at Hyderabad from June 4-6 and will focus on the three key priorities of the G20 health track.
