Awareness and accessibility, key to hypertension management in India

Mallari Kulkarni

Hypertension (a non-communicable disease or NCD), also known as the “silent killer,” is a growing public health concern in India. While there are numerous factors contributing to the increase in incidence rate, key gaps remain in symptom recognition, lifestyle management, and overall awareness of the impact a non-communicable disease can have.

As published in The Lancet Regional Health journal, 75% of Indian hypertensive patients have uncontrolled blood pressure. Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and stroke, hence a leading cause of mortality especially in the younger age group.  A World Economic Forum & Harvard School of Public Health report suggests that NCDs can impact the Indian economic growth with losses amounting to $4.5tr by 2030. A statistic that needs urgent attention.

The government’s focus on NCD prevention, early screening, and management, combined with the strengthening of healthcare infrastructure, has resulted in large-scale implementation of community-oriented strategies, which are reaping the seeds of a changing response to hypertension and other diseases. How is this intervention shaping up?

From enrollment to treatment and follow-up, the use of technologies that are accessed by a spectrum of health service providers and officials, marked by a shift in mindset of users and the final beneficiary – the citizen; is how public health is evolving.

Technology that reaches and empowers everyone

India’s globally acclaimed interoperable Digital Public Goods (DPG) model has transformed the delivery of public benefits, most notably with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which has revolutionized payments for everyone. For public healthcare, the country has successfully optimized its technological capabilities to create DPGs that have helped citizens navigate through difficult times, particularly with platforms like CoWIN, e-Sanjeevani and Aarogya Setu, that paved the way for contactless services.

Taking this a step further is the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which is built on the National Health Stack and promotes interoperability of health data and services by establishing an open digital health ecosystem. This also includes providing comprehensive primary healthcare for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension. The effective use of mobile, cloud, and analytics platforms has enabled a unified view of patient data across different levels of healthcare facilities. This data has also been critical in providing actionable insights to Center, State, and District officials to take timely policy decisions. With the deployment of hybrid/multi-cloud, all care providers can consistently and accurately update patient health records without duplication, while patients can access and consensually exchange their longitudinal personal health records. All these records are linked to an individual’s Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID for better security.  

While the systematic use and storage of data has been the bedrock of the program’s successful implementation, what inspires me the most is the growing acceptance among frontline healthcare workers on the system’s capability in training them to learn and leverage digital tools, making the screening and follow up process seamless. This is done through training sessions, integrating vernacular language capabilities, and facilitating ease of use via offline usability in zero-internet zones. Steps like these go a long way in ensuring that the benefits of technology are felt by everyone. This is especially relevant as the government has sent an ambitious target of screening 10 crores people aged 30 and up for NCDs, and providing hypertension treatment to 1.3 crores screened patients, as highlighted in the Budget Outcome 2023-2024.

Realizing the dream of a healthier India through collective action

It is essential to recognize the need to promote a healthier lifestyle, create awareness about NCDs and ensure access to long term treatment at a population scale. Technology can enable a positive transformation of our healthcare delivery systems and help in improving access to care for our citizens.

Emerging interoperability models, such as those that have already proven effective in India, provide the most effective solutions to our current challenges in this endeavor. Most importantly, the dream of a healthier India can only be realized if we invite greater collaboration across the digital health ecosystem.

The writer is Director, ESG Social Innovation, Dell Technologies India.Views expressed are personal.

Mallari Kulkarni

Hypertension (a non-communicable disease or NCD), also known as the “silent killer,” is a growing public health concern in India. While there are numerous factors contributing to the increase in incidence rate, key gaps remain in symptom recognition, lifestyle management, and overall awareness of the impact a non-communicable disease can have.

As published in The Lancet Regional Health journal, 75% of Indian hypertensive patients have uncontrolled blood pressure. Hypertension is a major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and stroke, hence a leading cause of mortality especially in the younger age group.  A World Economic Forum & Harvard School of Public Health report suggests that NCDs can impact the Indian economic growth with losses amounting to $4.5tr by 2030. A statistic that needs urgent attention.

The government’s focus on NCD prevention, early screening, and management, combined with the strengthening of healthcare infrastructure, has resulted in large-scale implementation of community-oriented strategies, which are reaping the seeds of a changing response to hypertension and other diseases. How is this intervention shaping up?

From enrollment to treatment and follow-up, the use of technologies that are accessed by a spectrum of health service providers and officials, marked by a shift in mindset of users and the final beneficiary – the citizen; is how public health is evolving.

Technology that reaches and empowers everyone

India’s globally acclaimed interoperable Digital Public Goods (DPG) model has transformed the delivery of public benefits, most notably with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which has revolutionized payments for everyone. For public healthcare, the country has successfully optimized its technological capabilities to create DPGs that have helped citizens navigate through difficult times, particularly with platforms like CoWIN, e-Sanjeevani and Aarogya Setu, that paved the way for contactless services.

Taking this a step further is the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which is built on the National Health Stack and promotes interoperability of health data and services by establishing an open digital health ecosystem. This also includes providing comprehensive primary healthcare for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension. The effective use of mobile, cloud, and analytics platforms has enabled a unified view of patient data across different levels of healthcare facilities. This data has also been critical in providing actionable insights to Center, State, and District officials to take timely policy decisions. With the deployment of hybrid/multi-cloud, all care providers can consistently and accurately update patient health records without duplication, while patients can access and consensually exchange their longitudinal personal health records. All these records are linked to an individual’s Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) ID for better security.  

While the systematic use and storage of data has been the bedrock of the program’s successful implementation, what inspires me the most is the growing acceptance among frontline healthcare workers on the system’s capability in training them to learn and leverage digital tools, making the screening and follow up process seamless. This is done through training sessions, integrating vernacular language capabilities, and facilitating ease of use via offline usability in zero-internet zones. Steps like these go a long way in ensuring that the benefits of technology are felt by everyone. This is especially relevant as the government has sent an ambitious target of screening 10 crores people aged 30 and up for NCDs, and providing hypertension treatment to 1.3 crores screened patients, as highlighted in the Budget Outcome 2023-2024.

Realizing the dream of a healthier India through collective action

It is essential to recognize the need to promote a healthier lifestyle, create awareness about NCDs and ensure access to long term treatment at a population scale. Technology can enable a positive transformation of our healthcare delivery systems and help in improving access to care for our citizens.

Emerging interoperability models, such as those that have already proven effective in India, provide the most effective solutions to our current challenges in this endeavor. Most importantly, the dream of a healthier India can only be realized if we invite greater collaboration across the digital health ecosystem.

The writer is Director, ESG Social Innovation, Dell Technologies India.Views expressed are personal.