New Delhi: To project India as a global source in the health sector, the Centre is developing an online repository of all categories of healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists, that also mentions the country where they wish to render their services.
The portal, being developed by the National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) as part of the government's 'Heal by India' initiative, is likely to be launched on August 15, official sources told PTI.
It will be voluntary for all healthcare professionals to provide their information to the portal and all steps are being taken to ensure data security. The personal information provided will be authenticated by UIDAI while registration details will be verified by the respective councils, the sources said.
"The portal will be ready by June 15 after which healthcare professionals will be able to register themselves in it.
"They will have the option to mention their preferred country where they want to work, languages they know, visa, country-specific qualifying exam details besides their usual background information," an official said.
A Health Professional Registry for doctors from all systems of medicines and nurses developed by NHA is already in place. So far, 32,059 doctors and 3,527 nurses have registered on it and of them credentials of 15531 doctors and 687 nurses have been verified. The data from this registry will also be sourced for the new portal, the official said.
‘Heal by India’ initiative is meant to generate job opportunities abroad for India’s trained professionals in the health sector and enhance education to churn out quality human resources in health, thus helping them become eligible to work anywhere in the world.
To achieve the objectives under ‘Heal by India’, the Government of India is working on assets like well-qualified faculty, no language barrier, availability of advanced technology and positive government policies; especially for those that have high demand outside India.
It includes almost 50-60 streams like dieticians, nurses, lab technicians, paramedics, OT (operation theatre) attendants, physiotherapists, OT technicians, medical attendants for old age patients care etc. They will be trained under the Skill India programme.
India is one of the sought-after destinations among international patients primarily because a significant number of doctors are trained in developed countries; English language fluency; state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment etc.
According to people familiar with the matter, India is likely to open offices in different countries to facilitate the process under skill development mission. The framework is being drafted under the supervision of a Niti Aayog member.
(with inputs from PTI)
