National Digital Health Day observed

Minister for Health and Population, Mohan Bahadur Basnet, has pointed out the need of increased use of information technology to make health services accessible to all.

Addressing a programme through a video message from London today on the occasion of National Digital Health Day, Minister Basnet said it is a time to be involved, being devoted to take all to the access of health services by using information technology when 73 per cent households have access to mobile phones and 38 per cent families have internet service. The programme was jointly organised by the Ministry and World Health Organisation.

He mentioned, “The Health Ministry has forwarded activities related to capacity building as capacity building of health workers is necessary in global competition of information technology.” This year, the Health Ministry observed the Day under the theme ‘Digitalization for universal access in health’.

Stressing that the use of information technology should be through one-door system, Minister Basnet’s Public Health Advisor, Bishworup Khadka, shared that there is a problem where different statistics are received from every division of the Ministry in lack of full implementation of one-door system.

Similarly, Additional Secretary at the Ministry, Dr Bikash Devkota, pointed out the need of development and expansion of information technology in health sector in order to provide telemedicine to paperless services, stating that this is the era of information technology.

Likewise, Director General of the Department of Health Services, Dr Dipendra Raman Singh, laid emphasis on the need of connecting information technology with health services in order to establish universal access of health services.

Claiming that challenges of health sector would be tackled in the current situation only from the use of information technology, World Health organisation Representative to Nepal Dr Rajesh S Pandav expressed happiness over Ministry’s necessary initiatives in this regard.

Officials of the Health Ministry, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Provincial Health Ministry and Regional Health Directorate were present on the occasion.