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New Delhi : Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan virtually launched the Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) here on April 5, 2021, in the presence of Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare. Chief Minister, Uttarakhand, Tirath Singh Rawat , was also present digitally. The Integrated Health Information Platform is the next generation highly refined version of the presently used Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).
The virtual event was attended by Health Ministers of various States including Balbir Singh Sidhu (Punjab), Alexander Laloo Hek (Meghalaya), Dr K Sudhakar (Karnataka), Dr. Prabhuram Choudhary (Madhya Pradesh), Jai Pratap Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Etela Rajendra (Telangana), T S Singh Deo (Chhattisgarh), Dr R Lalthangliana (Mizoram), and S Pangnyu Phom (Nagaland).
Expressing his enthusiasm at the brave, futuristic, and pertinent amalgamation of healthcare and technology, Dr Vardhan stated, “This day shall be written in Golden Letters as a day that marks a milestone in the history of disease surveillance. We have started a new chapter in India’s public health trajectory. India is the first country in the world to adopt such an advanced disease surveillance system.”
“The new version of IHIP will house the data entry and management for India’s disease surveillance programme. In addition to tracking 33 diseases now compared to the earlier 18 diseases, it shall ensure near-real-time data in digital mode, having done away with the paper-mode of working,” Dr Vardhan added.
Terming this as the world’s biggest online disease surveillance platform, Dr Vardhan said that it is in sync with the National Digital Health Mission and fully compatible with the other digital information systems presently being used in India. The refined IHIP with automated -data will help in a big way in real time data collection, aggregation, and further analysis of data that will aid and enable evidence-based policy making, he explained. He applauded NCDC, WHO, and all those who have been associated with this development.
Dr Vardhan stated that IHIP will provide health information system developed for real time, case-based information, integrated analytics, advanced visualisation capability. It will provide analysed reports on mobile or other electronic devices. In addition, outbreak investigation activities can be initiated and monitored electronically. It can easily be integrated with other ongoing surveillance programme while having the feature of addition of special surveillance modules. “Accurate, reliable and timely information is crucial for a country such as India which has a population of 1.35 billion,” he pointed out.
Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, informed that in terms of the geographical coverage of the surveillance, along with the number of diseases covered and the quantum of data generated, this makes IHIP one of the largest such digital health platforms globally