E Sanjeevani

The e Sanjeevani portal of Government completed 1.3 crore consultations in October 2021. It is a significant achievement as it has ensured improved access to health facilities to a large population even during the pandemic.

What is e Sanjeevani?

• It is a telemedicine initiative of the Government.
• It consists of eSanjeevani AB-HWC, providing doctor to doctor interactions and, eSanjeevani OPD, providing patient to doctor consultations.
• eSanjeevani initiative was launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. eSanjeevani OPD was launched on the 13^th April 2020 during the COVID lockdown, when access to OPD services was closed.

Benefits

• India still lacks equitable distribution of healthcare services. There is over concentration of health professionals in cities and towns and rural areas are only served by 34% of the medical professionals.
• Such telemedicine initiatives will aid in providing quality healthcare to the remote rural areas. It will also improve access to healthcare services for the needy and also compensate for the lack of specialized services in rural areas.