It would have been easy to let COVID dominate the major ground-breaking pillars of the world – the social sector, financial sector, political activities, travel, tourism, etc. However, countries across the globe united in their fight against this deadly disease and made sure to come up with policies and schemes that protected their citizens and also other people across spheres. Combating the pandemic along with reducing the consequences by coming up with more efficient ways to deal with its effects became the topmost priority for all. The Indian government too came up with many different measures that were much needed in this scenario. The pandemic led to a huge shift towards digitization and making things possible online without having to step out of the house.
Some major initiatives by the Indian government post-covid were:
The launch of the ABHA card – The Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) was launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in India in 2021. Since most people were instructed to download the Aarogya Setu app on their phones, they made all other services like the ABHA accessible on this app as well. The ABHA card is a 14-digit unique identification number that people can use to generate their health accounts. Here, you can store all your relevant medical information from your history to diagnostic tests, images, prescriptions, etc. This can be your cumulative health record and you will not have to carry a paper trail everywhere you go. By sharing this identification number with hospitals and other healthcare workers, they will also be able to view your data. Additionally, you can also download your covid 19 certificate with the help of this platform. The ABHA card made it easy for many people in India with a long and detailed history to be able to effectively share their details with the concerned people with their consent. You can create and delete the information on the ABHA card whenever you wish to.
The Cowin application – The need of the hour post the devastating effects of COVID was to stop and reduce the spread of the virus as much as possible. The best way to do so would be with the help of a vaccine that would immunize the population against the virus. The question was, how could a country with a population as large as India manage to carry out the vaccination of maximum people for proper immunity to occur? This resulted in the inception of the cowin gov in. This was an online platform where people in India could register themselves and book a slot for their vaccines. One could choose a vaccine based on their district, pin code, paid or unpaid, type of vaccine, availability of centers and slots, etc. This was a revolutionary program that helped India in its fight against COVID. Soon, most Indian citizens began to register themselves, their family members, and other people in and around their households on the platform. One could download their certificates and receive alerts on their phones reminding them of their next doses.
Benefits of digitization of healthcare – The primary change that the healthcare system saw was in terms of fewer papers and more work online via digital platforms. This enabled all the sectors across the healthcare ecosystem to manage things more efficiently and quickly.
- Providing doctors with online access to medical records and data beforehand was beneficial. This also helped the doctors not miss out on any relevant and vital detail that could be crucial in treatment.
- Sharing these records across professionals, if need be, would also be possible.
- Insurance agents and providers would access your history and information to offer the right kind of support in terms of medical claims and the right insurance packages.
- Application for the vaccination, downloading the certificate, etc can be done online.
- No need to stand in long lines for any of these processes – this will also ensure faster treatment and more capacity for doctors to see patients of all kinds.
- Not only in tier-I cities but these facilities were designed to be accessible to all citizens pan-India. Anyone in any city with a smartphone and internet connection could reap the benefits of accessing proper healthcare facilities and medical treatments without discrimination.
COVID has had a fatal impact on many industries, however, it did help streamline the medical atmosphere to a great extent. Ensure that you are a part of this change by creating your ABHA card and cowin account.
Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/covid-19-vaccine-in-vials-and-injection-5863389/
