Challenging Paradigms … – Dr T Sundararaman, Executive Director, National Health …

  • 24-03-2015 06:52:57
  • Health

We are looking back and forth on the exclusive development of the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the area of public healthcare.

In 2005-06, when National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was starting, there were very few functional systems at that time. In 2008, we regularised our routine presentations so that from 600 districts, monthly district report to the delivery of services in public hospitals started coming. By 2007-08, we have gone to 5400 block hospitals and by 2011, we were close to dealing with 200,000 facility-based reports.

The expectations of information technology have greatly changed. Under the universal healthcare, and in the Government of India, there are many interesting moves towards international health assurance mission that is in the coming. That is a new draft called National Health Policy, which has a major section on Information and Communication Technologies and there are lot of expectations that the government has from the IT industry to be able to afford its growth and its delivery.