The Union health ministry on Friday announced the integration of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) with the Aarogya Setu mobile application which will take the benefits of the 14-digit unique Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number to the users of the app.
Integration with the Aarogya Setu app will amplify the benefits of the ABHA numbers, the ministry said. So far, 16.4 crore ABHA numbers have been generated under the ABDM.
“Under the ABDM, a user can generate their unique ABHA number. They can use the ABHA number to link their existing and new medical records including doctor prescriptions, lab reports, hospital records etc. and also share these records with registered health professionals and health service providers and also access other digital health services whilst maintaining a common pool of medical history,” the ministry said in an official statement.
Following the integration, more than 21.4 crore users of the Aarogya Setu app will be able to generate the ABHA numbers using the app.
“Aarogya Setu has played a pivotal role amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. This has resulted in a wide usage of the mobile application. As vaccination helps us fight this pandemic, it was essential to repurpose this widely used digital public good,” said NHA CEO RS Sharma.
{{/usCountry}}“Aarogya Setu has played a pivotal role amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. This has resulted in a wide usage of the mobile application. As vaccination helps us fight this pandemic, it was essential to repurpose this widely used digital public good,” said NHA CEO RS Sharma.
{{/usCountry}}“With the integration of Aarogya Setu with ABDM, we will now be able to make the benefits of ABDM available to the users of Aarogya Setu and enable them to join the digital health ecosystem, with their due consent. Creation of ABHA is the start, and we would soon roll out the functionality to view your digital health records as well,” he added.
Ajay Prakash Sawhney, secretary to the Union ministry of electronics and information technology, said, “With ABHA, Aarogya Setu has enabled an important consent based option for the citizens which will help them access their personal health record and useful services from the national digital health system.”
The unique ABHA numbers can be generated using Aadhaar number and other basic identifiers such as name, date of birth, gender and address. Users who do not wish to use the Aadhaar number can also make use of their driving license or mobile numbers, the ministry said.