Vardhan stresses on innovative convergence strategies to improve healthcare

The minister, who digitally inaugurated the Seventh National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices said innovation is a very important coefficient in the delivery of healthcare services

It is important to focus on innovative convergence strategies to take India's healthcare system to a new height, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday and stressed on involving grassroots workers in brainstorming on innovations in healthcare to benefit from collective wisdom.

The minister, who digitally inaugurated the Seventh National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices through a video link on Monday said innovation is a very important coefficient in the delivery of healthcare services

"It is important to focus on innovative convergence strategies which will take India's healthcare system to a new height. In 2020, as many as 210 new initiatives were uploaded by the states and Union Territories on the National Healthcare Innovation Portal," Vardhan was quoted as saying in a health ministry statement.

"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," he said.

Vardhan also stressed on the need for involving and integrating grassroots healthcare workers for brainstorming on innovations in the healthcare ecosystem, and benefit from the collective wisdom which emanates from years of experiencte and expertise of working with people's health delivery systems.

Emphasising the role of ideas and innovation in strengthening the healthcare system, Vardhan noted, "The work on COVID-19 has encouraged us to initiate new ways of dealing with programmes and create innovations. The pandemic has made us a self-reliant in the area of manufacturing of PPE kits, ventilators, masks and vaccine.

"More than 1 million tele-consultations have been done on the eSanjeevani digital platform of the health ministry. This is a result of the innovative approach that has stemmed out of coordinated efforts."

The new Health Management Information System provides a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, inter-operable, standards-based digital systems.

Releasing the operational guidelines for tuberculosis services, the Union minister noted, "The sustained efforts of the Government of India towards TB control have led to an unprecedented increase in disease 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."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a bold target of a TB-free India by 2025, five years ahead of the SDG targets of 2030. To achieve this goal, we need to work together for early diagnosis of TB, treat all patients at first interface along with ensuring suitable patient support systems, and break the chain of TB transmission in the community, he said.

The first National Summit on Good, Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Healthcare Systems in India was held by the health ministry in 2013 in Srinagar and the last in Gujarat's Gandhinagar.