Publication: Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission’s Integrated Digital Health Ecosystem is the Foundation of Universal Citizen-Centered Health Care in India: Case Study
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2025-01-21
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2025-01-21
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The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in the need for accelerated digitization of health care across the globe. The Government of India amply demonstrated their digital prowess in their response to the pandemic by building Digital Public Goods (DPGs) that leverage several standalone initiatives to develop an integrated national digital health ecosystem. The aim of this ecosystem is to support Universal Health Coverage through the provision of real-time data, information and infrastructure using open-source, interoperable, standards-based digital systems. In the last decade, digital public infrastructure within India has expanded exponentially. Several initiatives like the digital identity system known as Aadhaar (for unique identification), and the Unified Payments Interface have become central to India’s public service delivery architecture. The Unified Payments Interface has transformed heterogeneous payment modalities by aggregating them under one easy to use, highly secure mobile-based system for money transfer. Mobile and internet connections have expanded at a fast pace and penetrated ever deeper into rural areas. Currently over 572,000 villages out of 597,000 have mobile or network connectivity. There are nearly 1.2 billion mobile subscribers, 800 million internet users, and 510 million smartphone users. This expansion can be attributed to the cost of mobile and internet connections dropping substantially, allowing for increased digital access across the country. Within the public digital infrastructure, there are 1.24 billion unique Aadhar digital IDs in place, and it is estimated that nearly 10 billion plus eKYC (Know Your Client) transactions and 2.64 billion Unified Payments Interface transactions take place monthly. This infrastructure forms the basis of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
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“World Bank. 2025. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission’s Integrated Digital Health Ecosystem is the Foundation of Universal Citizen-Centered Health Care in India: Case Study. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/42710 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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