Leveraging Technology to Enable Effective Preventive Screening of NCDs at Population Scale: Initial Observations

Abstract

| India is undergoing an epidemiological transition to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with NCDs contributing to nearly 60 percent of all deaths in India. NCDs are challenging to manage given their silent onset, low health awareness, significant informational asymmetry, and low health-seeking behavior among the rural population and the poor in India. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, launched Ayushman Bharat to move from a sectoral and segmented approach of health service delivery to a more comprehensive one. As part of this effort, a program was launched for population-based screening (PBS) and management of five common NCDs-hypertension, diabetes, oral, breast, and cervical cancers. The success of the program, among other things, will be determined largely by the early detection, timely treatment, and diligent follow-ups to manage the five NCDs. In line with WHO's Global action plan for the prevention and con-

Conquering the Silent Killer: Hypertension Prevention and Management in India

“…Implementation challenges include lack of awareness, reluctance for screening, internet connection for teleconsultation, limited availability and capacities of FLWs, heavy burden on them from managing multiple health priorities, and administrative difficulties in the last-mile delivery of services, record keeping, drugs availability, follow up, etc. [ 9 ] Technology is being appropriately leveraged to address these challenges for effective implementation. CPHC-NCD technology solution including a mobile app for ASHAs, HWC App for ANM/CHO, PHC Web Portal & App for the Staff Nurses and MO PHC, CHC/DH Portal and App, “Admin” Portal and health officials’ dashboard was launched in 2018.…”

“…CPHC-NCD solution is customized to meet the requirements of the Indian public health delivery system with the fundamental objective of ensuring continuum of care (CoC) and supporting registered patients throughout the treatment period. [ 9 , 10 ] It is also integrated with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to enable the creation of ABHA Health IDs and for linking existing Health IDs in the CPHC-NCD system.…”

Maslow’s theory for preventive healthcare in India – a content analysis approach

“…Singh et al (2018a, 2018b) expressed concerns about cost of health care in India. Nadhamuni et al (2020) emphasized on the role of technology in preventive health-care practices. Ganapathy and Reddy (2021) stressed on the need of public private partnership in administering technology based preventive health-care services in remote areas of India.…”