This translation is machine-generated and pending review.
The current pandemic scenario has raised important questions around the world regarding the healthcare sector. We are experiencing an unnecessary lag in this sector, which hampers the fight in situations like the one we are going through. Several other sectors, less important than health, are light-years ahead in terms of technology, and now the world is racing to close that gap.
The health ID card
Several countries and private companies have started interesting initiatives. Most recently, India announced that it is about to make a big bet on health data. The country announced plans to give every Indian a health ID card that stores medical information such as conditions and prescriptions. Doctors and pharmacies will update it at every physical or virtual visit. The plan is that you won’t need to tell doctors about your history or fear that they will prescribe a treatment that doesn’t match your record.
The government is aware of privacy concerns. Cardholders would have to grant temporary access to their data at each use, thus trying to avoid abuse and security problems.
They have not yet announced a timeline for when the cards would be ready.
The move comes as India aims to connect every village in the country with fiber-optic cables within the next 1,000 days.
There is certainly pressure to rethink data. India was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with tens of thousands of new infections per day. The health ID cards will not necessarily be ready in time to meaningfully address COVID-19, but they could help contain similar diseases by ensuring consistent treatment and vaccine distribution. However, this assumes that the card system works as well as promised and for just over 1.4 billion users.
National Digital Heath Mission - a revolution in health sector in India, starts today;
Every Indian will get a health ID which will be a repository of all health related information of a person: PM @narendramodi#AatmaNirbharBharat #IndependenceDay #IndiaIndependenceDay pic.twitter.com/iQIpSx2bd9
— PIB India (@PIB_India) August 15, 2020
https://www.engadget.com/india-health-id-card-230551089.html