Total 210 new initiatives uploaded on National Healthcare Innovation portal during 2020

New Delhi: “It is important to focus on innovative convergence strategies which will take India’s healthcare system to a new height. In the year 2020, 210 new initiatives were uploaded by the States and UTs in the National Healthcare Innovation Portal. The ultimate goal of these innovations is to improve the health status of the people on one hand and strengthen Public Health Systems in a sustainable manner on the other,” mentioned Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare as he digitally inaugurated the 7th National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices through a video conference on 28th December.

Dr Vardhan also stressed the need to involve and integrate the grassroots healthcare workers for brainstorming on the innovations in the healthcare ecosystem and benefit from the collective wisdom which emanates from years of experience and expertise of working with people’s health delivery systems. Dr Harsh Vardhan shared his experiences of leading the Polio elimination drive when he was the Health Minister, Delhi, and reminisced about the power of people’s participation and community engagement in health programs.

Emphasizing the role of ideas and innovation in strengthening our healthcare system, Dr. Vardhan noted, “Innovation is a very important coefficient in the delivery of healthcare services. The work on COVID-19 has encouraged us to initiate new ways of dealing with programs and create innovations. The pandemic has made us a self-reliant in the area of manufacturing of PPE kit, Ventilator, mask, vaccine etc. More than 1 million teleconsultations have been done on the eSanjeevani digital platform of the Health Ministry. This is a result of the innovative approach that has stem out of coordinated efforts.”

Dr Vardhan also launched New Health Management Information System (HMIS) along with the Operational Guidelines for TB services at AB-HWCs and the Operational Guidelines 2020 on Active Case Detection and Regular Surveillance for Leprosy.

Reiterating the importance of digital and Information technology in delivery of Healthcare services, Dr Vardhan said, “Digital transformation has enabled us to develop a national digital health ecosystem that supports Universal Health Coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely and safe manner. The new Health Management Information System (HMIS) provides a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems. The optimal information exchange has helped in achieving better health outcome, better decision support system, and facilitating improvement in the reforms of public health care at State and National level. Department of Health and Family Welfare has recently won a very prestigious Digital India award 2020 under Open Data Champion category for the eSanjeevani digital platform.”

Releasing the operational guidelines for TB services, the Union Minister noted, “The sustained efforts of the Government of India towards TB control have led to an unprecedented increase in TB notifications and improvements in diagnostics, adherence and treatment outcomes. The number of missing cases has reduced to 2.9 lakh cases in 2019, as against more than 10 lakh cases in 2017.”