AYUSH GRID Project

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18-Apr-2023: Ayush sector all set to provide efficient, holistic, affordable and quality health services through “Ayush Grid” and Artificial Intelligence

The second day of 2nd Health Working Group meeting under G20 India Presidency saw an important brainstorming session on citizen centric health delivery ecosystem for universal health coverage leveraging digital health and innovation. Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush in his inaugural address in the side event emphasized on an integrative holistic healthcare model of service delivery through comprehensive IT backbone for Traditional Medicine “Ayush Grid” and by ensuring the benchmarking of AI in Traditional Medicine with the guidance and support of UN bodies.

Vaidya Kotecha further said that there is need to advocate the use of digital tools for not only the efficiency and outcome of healthcare system but also to maintain the medical records, exchange information and extrapolate the effectiveness of various modalities of healthcare including; but not limited to pharmaco-therapeutic interventions, traditional medicine based approaches and other innovations. He said that the upcoming WHO - Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India has one of the mandates to work on data analytics and technology in Traditional medicine. This will suffice the infusion of data and technology in TM in coming future.

The secretary also participated in the panel discussion on creation of Digital Health Ecosystem: Moving towards harmonised & efficient health-data governance frameworks.  He spoke about the crucial aspect of digital health which is ever increasing and ubiquitous use of artificial intelligence in health care including traditional medicine.

Shri Kotecha said there is a need to catch up with the development of benchmarks, guidelines and policies for safe, effective use of the same in health care. To ensure the benchmarking of AI in traditional medicine and the guidance and support of UN bodies - World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union, Ministry of Ayush is leading a topic group on traditional medicine as part of Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health (FG-AI4H).

Ministry of Ayush based on National Health Policy 2017- which envisaged the integral role of technology (eHealth, mHealth, Cloud, Internet of things, wearables, etc.), has envisioned Ayush Grid, which is aligned with the principles of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. It is a comprehensive IT backbone for the traditional medicine sector in India and created with a vision to transform the Ayush sector to provide efficient, holistic, affordable, and quality services to all, through a secure and interoperable digital ecosystem. Ayush grid operates at four levels viz., Core layer, National Layer, State Layer and Citizen access ensuring seamless digital connectedness between all stakeholders.

The 2nd Health Working Group meeting under G20 India Presidency is currently underway in Panaji, Goa from 17th – 19th April, 2023. More than 180 delegates from 19 G20 member countries, 10 invited states and 22 International Organizations are participating. Ministry of Ayush has setup a stall at exhibition on Digital Health organized on the sidelines of the 2nd meeting of HWG.

Pin It
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18-Apr-2023: Ayush sector all set to provide efficient, holistic, affordable and quality health services through “Ayush Grid” and Artificial Intelligence

The second day of 2nd Health Working Group meeting under G20 India Presidency saw an important brainstorming session on citizen centric health delivery ecosystem for universal health coverage leveraging digital health and innovation. Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush in his inaugural address in the side event emphasized on an integrative holistic healthcare model of service delivery through comprehensive IT backbone for Traditional Medicine “Ayush Grid” and by ensuring the benchmarking of AI in Traditional Medicine with the guidance and support of UN bodies.

Vaidya Kotecha further said that there is need to advocate the use of digital tools for not only the efficiency and outcome of healthcare system but also to maintain the medical records, exchange information and extrapolate the effectiveness of various modalities of healthcare including; but not limited to pharmaco-therapeutic interventions, traditional medicine based approaches and other innovations. He said that the upcoming WHO - Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India has one of the mandates to work on data analytics and technology in Traditional medicine. This will suffice the infusion of data and technology in TM in coming future.

The secretary also participated in the panel discussion on creation of Digital Health Ecosystem: Moving towards harmonised & efficient health-data governance frameworks.  He spoke about the crucial aspect of digital health which is ever increasing and ubiquitous use of artificial intelligence in health care including traditional medicine.

Shri Kotecha said there is a need to catch up with the development of benchmarks, guidelines and policies for safe, effective use of the same in health care. To ensure the benchmarking of AI in traditional medicine and the guidance and support of UN bodies - World Health Organization and International Telecommunication Union, Ministry of Ayush is leading a topic group on traditional medicine as part of Focus Group on Artificial Intelligence for Health (FG-AI4H).

Ministry of Ayush based on National Health Policy 2017- which envisaged the integral role of technology (eHealth, mHealth, Cloud, Internet of things, wearables, etc.), has envisioned Ayush Grid, which is aligned with the principles of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. It is a comprehensive IT backbone for the traditional medicine sector in India and created with a vision to transform the Ayush sector to provide efficient, holistic, affordable, and quality services to all, through a secure and interoperable digital ecosystem. Ayush grid operates at four levels viz., Core layer, National Layer, State Layer and Citizen access ensuring seamless digital connectedness between all stakeholders.

The 2nd Health Working Group meeting under G20 India Presidency is currently underway in Panaji, Goa from 17th – 19th April, 2023. More than 180 delegates from 19 G20 member countries, 10 invited states and 22 International Organizations are participating. Ministry of Ayush has setup a stall at exhibition on Digital Health organized on the sidelines of the 2nd meeting of HWG.

2022

13-Dec-2022: Status of the Ayush grid project

The Ayush Grid Project is conceptualized by the Ministry of Ayush for creating a comprehensive Information Technology backbone for entire Ayush sector. The Ayush Grid platform envisages digitization of service delivery across the six functional areas — Health Services, Education, Research, Drug Administration, Medicinal Plants, and Ministry of Ayush Oversight along with capacity building and media outreach.

The proposed objectives, structure, functions along with the timelines of the Ayush Grid Project are as under:

Objectives:

  1. Enhance access to Ayush services like health services, education, research, etc. in India and at the global level.
  2. Ensure holistic coverage of the Ayush sector by digital solutions.
  3. Increase digital collaboration and exchange of best practices among Ayush stakeholders.
  4. Attaining highest possible level of health & well-being as per National Health Policy 2017.
  5. Good Health & Well-being (Ensure healthy lives & promote well-being for all at all ages) in alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) -3, 2030.
  6. Quality Education (Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all) as per SDG-4 2030
  7. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation) as per SDG-9 2030

Structure: As per High level Advisory Committee (HLAC) report and Detailed Project Report(DPR), the Ayush Grid follows relevant design principles of India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA) 2.0, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) Framework and also related principles and standards of National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) framework. Ayush Grid Architecture has been designed as a four-layer model, as under:

  1. Ayush Core Layer (which also connects to ABDM and other external ecosystems)- Consist of Development of Ayush Core registries, Ayush Core Directories, Ayush Architecture repositories, Ayush Morbidity codes, Ayush Drugs codes etc.
  2. Ayush National Layer- Consists of developing all Ayush IT Applications and common reference applications and hand holding for use of applications developed.
  3. Ayush State Layer- State/UT Governments and Private stakeholders shall be given choice of using IT Applications developed under Ayush Grid or to use their own IT systems if available. There will be integration / seamless data exchange and interoperability between various related applications as per the need.
  4. Ayush Citizen Access Layer- Public facing Portals and Mobile apps through which the envisaged services are to be offered to public.

Functions: Digitization of all functionalities and processes in Ayush sector, through applications developed under Ayush Grid with data exchange and interoperability with internal and external applications as per the need.

Timelines: As per the DPR and final approval of the Project.

2020

2-Oct-2020: Ayush Grid, the emerging IT-backbone for AYUSH Sector, to integrate operationally with the National Digital Health Mission

The operational integration of Ayush Grid, the emerging IT backbone for AYUSH Sector with the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), was endorsed at a high level meeting chaired by Vd. Rajesh Kotech Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH recently. The Ayush Grid team and the NDHM have already held several rounds of discussions in the matter and reached understanding on the modalities involved. This integration will be immensely beneficial to the public for availing varied options for their health needs. The integration will also accelerate the mainstreaming of Ayush disciplines of healthcare.

Secretary (AYUSH) also reviewed the current status of IT initiatives undertaken under the Ayush Grid project. It was observed that in the last two years Ayush Grid project succeeded in bridging the digital gap in the Ayush Sector and also in implementing various critical healthcare IT projects.

The Ayush Grid project was initiated by the Ministry in 2018 for creating a comprehensive IT backbone for the entire sector. Digitalization of the entire Ayush Sector will lead to its transformation in fields of health care delivery at all levels, including research, education, various health programmes and drug regulations. This will be beneficial for all stakeholders of Ayush including citizens of the country and in turn will help to achieve various national and global goals in healthcare.

The most significant among the different initiatives implemented so far in the project is the AYUSH Health Management Information System (AHMIS). Originally based on THERAN, an HMIS developed in-house by the Siddha Research Council, Chennai, the AHMIS has now emerged into a robust, cloud-based Information System used by nearly100 Clinical establishment of the AYUSH Ministry. Further, the services of M/s Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Bangalore has recently been enlisted to rapidly enhance its scope. The Ministry is also preparing to deploy AHMIS to Ayush units outside the Central Government umbrella, so that the entire Ayush Sector can make use of it.

Another success of Ayush Grid is the development and implementation of the Ayush Sanjivani mobile app and the Yoga locator mobile app, to meet the urgent demands of the concerned Divisions of the Ministry. These applications have a combined down-load number of 6 lakhs, and have served their objective of reaching out to a large audience in a short time satisfactorily. During the initial weeks of Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry launched various crowd sourcing activities for gathering Covid-19 inputs as well as mobilising Ayush volunteers. Further, a Covid-19 dashboard was also set up for real time information. The Ayush Grid project was able to support such critical initiatives related to managing the health crisis, despite various lock down related constraints.

Under the Ayush Grid, a customised IT course for Ayush Professionals was developed in collaboration with C-DAC, Pune. Nearly 200 Ayush professionals including a few from stake-holding institutions outside government were trained as part of this initiative. This has helped considerably to bridge the digital gap in Ayush sector, and these professionals will play an important role in taking the digitisation of the sector forward. The other successful projects implemented as part of Ayush Grid include the Telemedicine programme launched with C-DAC on 1st November 2019 as a pilot project in Siddha system. Since lock down, it is functional for Homoeopathy and Ayurveda systems also. Nearly 20,000 people have been served through this.

An ambitious project to support Ayush education is being launched with the name Ayush Next. This has been developed, and is expected to go online soon.

The components of Ayush Grid initiative will cover all the verticals of the Ayush Sector, like Health Services, Education, Ayush Research, Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Training Programmes, Citizen Centric Services, Drug Licensing Portal, and Media Outreach.

The Ayush Grid is steadily developing through its constituent projects. It is expected to emerge as a comprehensive IT backbone serving 8 lakh Ayush physicians and nearly 50 crore citizens within three years.

6-Mar-2020: Nationwide “AYUSH Grid” connecting all hospitals and laboratories to promote traditional systems of medicines

The Ministry of AYUSH has initiated steps to set up a nationwide digital platform called “AYUSH GRID” which aims to bring onboard all AYUSH facilities including hospitals and laboratories and to promote traditional systems of healthcare.

Ministry of AYUSH has conceptualized AYUSH GRID Project for digitalization of the entire AYUSH Sector. After completion of due procedures, Ministry has on boarded a Project Management Consultancy and this agency is in the process of preparation of As–Is report, Gap Analysis, To-Be report, which shall be part of Detailed Project Report (DPR). After completion of DPR, with the help of the consulting agency, Ministry will go ahead with on boarding of System Integrator/s for actual development of AYUSH GRID Project.

Currently, Ministry has launched Pilot Projects like AYUSH Hospital Information Management System (A-HMIS), Tele-Medicine, Yoga locator Application, Bhuvan Application, Yoga Portal, Case Registry Portal, etc. and these projects will be co-opted in AYUSH GRID Project in future.

After completion of DPR, Ministry will process EFC Memo for required budget for the Project.

Ministry of AYUSH has also proposed to establish 12,500 AYUSH centres across the country for traditional system of healthcare and medicines.

12,500 AYUSH Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) are proposed to be established by up gradation of existing State Government AYUSH dispensaries and Sub Health Centres by the year 2023-24.  Total financial allocation proposed for the scheme is Rs. 3399.35 crores over the time period of five years.