Maharashtra: CM Eknath Shinde launches ABHA health card for citizens

The Maharashtra government on Monday launched the ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Account) health card for citizens. It was virtually launched by state Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

"ABHA health card will be initiated under the Digital India mission by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under this digital health mission, a unique health card will be made and through this card, all the health information of the patient will be recorded. So I request you all to register for this card," CM Shinde Tweeted.

Giving further information, Public Health Department additional chief secretary Dr Pradeep Vyas told the Free Press Journal, "ABHA digital health ID card will store all medical information in one place. So, a citizen can share their ID number with medical professionals like doctors and insurers and they can view the medical information instantly. The health card ID will have information about how many times a citizen visited the doctor and the medicines prescribed to him or her. It will have the citizen’s health record or history which will be permanent and, it will be under the citizen's control."

According to a public health department officer, there are several benefits if a citizen registers and downloads an ABHA health ID card.

"You can access all your medical information like tests, diagnoses, medicine prescriptions, etc, with just a few clicks. You can share your medical records easily with hospitals, clinics, doctors, etc. Thus, you can get medical care even in new localities. You can access the Healthcare Professional Registry (HPR) which is a compilation of the details of all the doctors in India. You can also access the Health Facility Registry (HFR) which is a list of all the government and private medical facilities in India. This card is valid in AYUSH treatment facilities too. Treatments include Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy," the officer said.

A citizen can apply for health card registration online through Aadhaar Card or a driving license.

In addition, Vyas said that the state public health department is creating unique IDs for health care providers and also for various institutions, including government hospitals, private hospitals, super speciality hospitals and others. He added that the department has so far created 1.50 crore health account IDs.