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.
