U-WIN transformative step in immunisation effort: Economic Survey

The U-WIN portal has registered 74.4 million beneficiaries, conducted 12.6 million vaccination sessions, and recorded 278.4 million doses administered as of November 27, 2024, stated the Economic Survey 2024-25 while highlighted that it marks a transformative step in India's immunisation efforts.

The pre-budget survey tabled in the Parliament on Friday mentioned the initiatives that saw technology integration in healthcare delivery for timely diagnoses and recommendations of personalised treatments to telehealth technologies that connect patients and health professionals in a virtual space to improve efficiency and effectiveness. 

 

The report described U-WIN as a user-friendly platform that enables seamless access to immunisation records, flexible scheduling, 'anytime access', and 'anywhere' vaccination.

Beneficiaries can self-register via the web portal or mobile app, track schedules, and receive SMS reminders for upcoming doses. U-WIN also generates QR-based e-vaccination certificates and facilitates the creation of Ayushman Bharat Health Accounts (ABHA) for parents and children, supporting holistic digital health management.

The portal is accessible in 11 regional languages. Over 1.7 crore pregnant women and 5.4 crore children have been registered digitally and more than 26.4 crore vaccine doses tracked in real-time, the survey stated.

The report also said that e-Sanjeevani -- the national telemedicine service -- has emerged as the world's largest telemedicine implementation in primary healthcare.

As on November 12, 2024, it has served over 31.19 crore patients through 1.29 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandir as spokes, which are served by 16,447 hubs and 676 online OPDs with support of more than 22,5,286 doctors, medical specialists, super-specialists and health workers.

The integration and use of technology have the potential to offer viable solutions to problems of quality, accessibility and affordability, the report underlined.

"One such example is the potential to prevent loss of lives and save time by leveraging drones for the delivery of medicines in difficult geographies and in times of emergencies," it highlighted.

Drones are transforming healthcare in India by ensuring rapid delivery of life-saving medicines and collecting samples from remote and inaccessible areas, proving indispensable during emergencies.

The project 'i-DRONE' (ICMR's Drone Response and Outreach for North East) was launched under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in October 2021 to assess the feasibility of using drones to deliver vaccines and medical supplies.

The exercise was conducted in rugged geographical terrains of the northeast (Manipur and Nagaland), including land, islands, foothills and across the hills.

Following the study's success, this initiative has been expanded and now includes delivering medical essentials at high altitudes in Himachal Pradesh, transporting tuberculosis samples in Telangana and moving pathological samples in Karnataka, the survey report stated.