Use of technology can help in achieving universal health coverage: Mandaviya at G7
2 min read . Updated: 14 May 2023, 09:05 PM IST
PremiumMandaviya stated that India’s G20 Presidency has brought digital health as a specific priority and has proposed the convergence mechanism of all digital initiatives across the world through formation of Global Initiative on Digital Health housed at WHO, headquarter
New Delhi: Use of technology and digital health tools can help in achieving the universal health coverage, said the union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, while addressing the G7 health ministerial meeting on health innovation in Nagasaki, Japan on Sunday.
The meeting was held to discuss the priorities, implementation and utilization of health innovations like digital health towards ensuring universal health coverage. Health Ministers of the G7 countries and invited “Outreach 4" countries of India, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand participated in the meeting.
Mandaviya said, “Use of technology & digital health tools are an enabler and equalizer which can facilitate strengthened health service delivery. It can aid in achieving universal health coverage. The covid-19 pandemic has catalyzed the use of technology in health service delivery and highlighted the need to focus on an enabling framework to bridge the digital divide across the countries specifically amongst low-and-middle-income countries."
Highlighting India’s achievements in digital health, Mandaviya informed that “India’s covid-19 vaccine delivery platform, Co-WIN has monitored the administration of over 2.2 billion vaccine doses across the length and breadth of the country and monitored not only cold chain management but also facilitated citizens and vaccinators in administration of the vaccines besides providing a QR code based digital vaccine certificate".
“Similarly, eSanjeevani, National telemedicine platform, launched during the pandemic has already coordinated more than 115 million, free of cost, consultations to the citizens, making it the world’s biggest telemedicine platform", he said.
He also underlined the importance of ensuring availability of these technological tools and stated that “India has already taken a policy decision to provide all such digital tools free of cost to the world as Digital Public Goods."
Dr Mandaviya also stated that India’s G20 Presidency has brought digital health as a specific priority and has proposed the convergence mechanisms of all digital initiatives across the world through formation of Global Initiative on Digital Health housed at World Health Organization, headquarter.
He stated that this initiative with a network-of-network approach will be crucial in bridging the global digital divide and urged the support of G7 countries for the proposed initiative in this regard.