India to Soon Get 'E-Healthcare Service'

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will soon start an "e-healthcare service" that will intensify health awareness in rural India, an official said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

"The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has already prepared the white paper of the "e-healthcare service" which will be a boost to raise awareness among the people in the country, who remain completely deprived of the health services initiated by the government," Jagdish Prasad, director general (DG) health services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said speaking at the Northern Region Conclave on NextGen Health care organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

He said the e-health care system, which basically will be a web portal, will help the government to address the people about every health-related programme and the various schemes that enable them to get free medical treatment.

"The private health care institutions have failed to extend their services in the rural parts of the country despite the citizens being one of the most needy for the health care facilities," said Prasad.

According to the Health ministry, over 39 million people in India remain deprived of the health care services, which in most cases leads to death.

Prasad said that to intensify the health care services to the most rural parts of the country, the Indian industries need to come ahead and fund the government.

"Every time India starts an awareness programmes, funding is sought from the foreign industrialist, which needs to be stopped. The Indian Industries need to come ahead and provide financial support to the government in intensifying the awareness programmes," he said.

"The situation today is as such that due to lack of health awareness in the rural parts of the country, 70 percent of the women in rural parts of India do not know the essentials of breast feeding, due to which their child suffers from several health issues and hardly get medical care."

He also said that the government will start health education from class 3-10 and will make it mandatory for every school to implement it.

"The Indian government will also make efforts to use the services of Ayurvedic doctors, who can bridge the gap in the areas where the health institutions are not able to extend their health services," said Prasad, adding that there is a need in the country to integrate the services of the allopathic and the Ayurvedic health services.

Prasad said a strong political will can bridge the gap that has caused lapse of the health care system in rural parts of the country.

"Today, out of the many problems one of the main problem India is facing is the lack of health care workers. Many of the medical colleges today do not have the required number of doctors, nurses and health volunteers. Without it how is it possible to extend the health care this way. All this can be solved only if there is strong political will," he said.

"To improve health care in the coming years, the Indian government will convert district hospitals in to medical colleges and upgrade the medical colleges into a better health institutions," Prasad added.