NEW DELHI: Newborn babies and children below 18 will soon get an Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA), or health number, that will enable the parents to monitor their overall development.
The health IDs, referred to as Child ABHA, will also provide the children better access to preventive health services, according to R S Sharma, CEO of the National Health Authority (NHA), an autonomous body responsible for implementing the $1.43 billion public health insurance scheme Ayushman-Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY).
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Missio, a flagship scheme under NHA, is currently “designing the mechanisms for the creation” of the ABHA number for children below 18 years.
ABDM aims to develop the backbone necessary to support the integrated digital health infrastructure of the country.
“It is being developed to enable the linkage and sharing of a child’s health records, right from his/her birth,” Sharma said.
The aim is to help a parent or a guardian get the facility to create Child ABHA for their children by linking their own ABHA with it.
Sharma said this would empower them to access the child’s health records digitally, monitor their development, and enable the creation of longitudinal health history.
Child ABHA is envisioned to provide better access to preventive health services and track immunisation records, Sharma added.
Once the children gets the ID, they will also be able to get access to the central and state health schemes, if they are found to be lacking in any health development indices.
Over 22 crore ABHA numbers — a unique ID that uses a 14-digit identification number that allows users to share their health records digitally with hospitals, clinics, insurance providers and others — have been created so far.