Ayushman Bharat: Year on, only 50% of Chandigarh population has digital IDs

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, July 30

Only 50 per cent population of the city has been covered under the Central project for making digital health cards for Indian citizens.

The Chandigarh Administration had launched the National Digital Health Mission in the UT last year and proposed to cover the entire population of the city within a month. However, only 5,33,750 citizens of the city have got Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number so far. The data pertaining to state-wise ABHA number was tabled in the Lok Sabha on July 29.

ABHA number is a 14-digit number that will uniquely identify a patient as a participant in India’s digital healthcare ecosystem. All healthcare benefits, ranging from public health programmes to insurance schemes, can be linked with the unique ABHA number.

Aadhaar number is one of the means to create ABHA number. A user can also create the ABHA number with the help of driving licence. The creation of health IDs is voluntary.

Government Multi-Specialty Hospital in Sector 16 is trying to ramp up the coverage by creating health IDs of citizens, who come for OPD registration. The awareness is low for digital health IDs, but it would gradually pick up pace, said a GMSH official.

Benefits of health card

• Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) card provides the beneficiary free access to digital health records
• It allows the user to maintain health record history by linking personal health records on the ABHA mobile app
• ABHA facilitates easy opt-in and opt-out features
• It enables users to link all their healthcare benefits, ranging from public health programmes to insurance schemes, with the ABHA number