Gist of The Hindu : AUGUST 2023

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Digital Health Incentives Scheme (DHIS)

• The National Health Authority (NHA) on Friday announced extension of its Digital Health Incentives Scheme (DHIS) under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) till December 31, 2023.

About Digital Health Incentives Scheme (DHIS):

• The DHIS was launched with effect from 1st January, 2023 as part of the ABDM.
• The scheme aims to give a further boost to digital health transactions in the country under the ABDM.
• The incentives under this scheme would be provided to hospitals and diagnostic labs and also to the providers of digital health solutions such as Hospital/ Health Management Information System (HMIS) and Laboratory Management Information System (LMIS).
• Under the DHIS, the eligible health facilities and digital solutions companies shall be able to earn financial incentives of up to Rs. 4 crores based on the number of digital health records they create and link to ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account).

Incentives would be provided to the following entities:

• Health Facilities having 10 or more beds;
• Laboratory/radiology diagnostics centres;
• Digital Solution Companies (entities providing ABDM enabled digital solutions);
• The incentives shall be provided on the basis of the number of ABHA-linked transactions e., the digital health records created and linked to ABHA.

What is the National Health Authority (NHA)?

• It is the apex body responsible for implementing AB PM-JAY.
• It has been entrusted with the role of designing strategy, building technological infrastructure and implementation of “National Digital Health Mission '' to create a National Digital Health Eco-system.
• It is the successor of the National Health Agency, which has been functioning as a registered society since 2018. Pursuant to Cabinet decision for full functional autonomy, National Health Agency was reconstituted as the National Health Authority in January 2019.

Structure:

• An attached office of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with full functional autonomy, NHA is governed by a Governing Board chaired by the Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare.
• It is headed by a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), an officer of the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, who manages its affairs.
• The CEO is the Ex-Office Member Secretary of the Governing Board.
• To implement the scheme at the State level, State Health Agencies (SHAs) in the form of a society/trust have been set up by respective States.

Samudrayaan Project

• Union Minister of Earth Sciences recently said that India's ambitious Samudrayaan project is set to send three personnel to a depth of 6000 meters in a submersible vehicle.

About Samudrayaan Project:

• It is India’s first manned mission to explore the deep ocean. 
• It is designed to study the deep ocean resources and conduct biodiversity assessments as well. 
• The mission will not disturb the ecosystem as the submersible is used solely for exploration purposes.
• The project is part of the larger Deep Ocean Mission, which supports the Central Government’s Blue Economy policy. 
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is the nodal ministry to implement this multi-institutional ambitious mission.

What is MATSYA 6000?

• It is a manned submersible vehicledeveloped by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai.
• It was developed under the Samudrayaan mission to facilitate humans in the deep ocean in exploring mineral resources.
• It is designed with the capability of operating in the deep sea for 12 hours while in case of emergency, it can also operate up to 96 hours with all the necessary measures for human safety. 
• Expected to be launched in 2024-25, it would make India only one among six countries (US, Russia, Japan, France, and China) to have piloted a crewed under-sea expedition beyond 5,000 metres.

Key Facts about Deep Ocean Mission:

• It is a mission-mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India.
• It is a high-level multi-ministerial, multi-disciplinary programme for a better understanding of the deep sea living and non-living resources of the Indian Ocean.
• It will aid in India’s efforts to attain the Blue Economy status.
• It aims to develop technologies to harness living and non-living resources from the deep oceans.
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will be the nodal Ministry implementing this multi-institutional Mission.
• The estimated cost of the Mission will be 4077 crores for a period of 5 years (2021-26) to be implemented in a phase-wise manner.

Sahakar 22

• National Cooperative Development Corporation had earlier launched its own initiative named Sahakar– 22, during FY 2017-18.

About Sahakar 22:

This initiative of NCDC included the following:

• FOCUS 222 – NCDC’s focused assistance for Cooperatives in 222 Districts (including 117 Aspirational Districts identified by NITI Aayog);
• PACS HUB – Transformation of PACS and other Coops as Apna Kisan Resource Centres;
• AENEC - Act East and North East Cooperatives;
• CEMtC - Centres of Excellence to Market through Cooperatives;
• SAHAKAR PRAGYA - Capacity Development through Laxmanrao Inamdar National Academy for Cooperative Research Development (LINAC).

Key Facts about NCDC

• The National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) was established by an Act of Parliament in 1963 as a statutory Corporation.
• Nodal Ministry: The Ministry of Cooperation.

Functions

• Planning, promoting and financing programmes for production, processing, marketing, storage, export and import of agricultural produce, food stuffs, certain other notified commodities e.g., fertilisers, insecticides, agricultural machinery, lac, soap, kerosene oil, textile, rubber etc.,
• Supply of consumer goods and collection, processing, marketing, storage and export of minor forest produce through cooperatives, besides income generating stream of activities such as poultry, dairy, fishery, sericulture, handloom etc.

Trachoma

• Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that Iraq has now joined the league of 17 other countries that have eliminated trachoma.
• Iraq becomes the 50th country to be acknowledged by the United Nations health agency for eliminating at least one neglected tropical disease globally. 

About Trachoma:

• It is a disease of the eye caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.
• It is a public health problem in 42 countries, and is responsible for the blindness or visual impairment of about 1.9 million people.
• Blindness from trachoma is irreversible.
• It is a neglected tropical disease and the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness.

How it spreads?

• Infection spreads through personal contact (via hands, clothes, bedding or hard surfaces) and by flies that have been in contact with discharge from the eyes or nose of an infected person.
• With repeated episodes of infection over many years, the eyelashes may be drawn in so that they rub on the surface of the eye.
• This causes pain and may permanently damage the cornea.
• To eliminate trachoma as a public health problem, WHO recommends the SAFE strategy.
• The SAFE strategy includes: Surgery to treat the blinding stage (trachomatous trichiasis); Antibiotics to clear the infection, particularly the antibiotic azithromycin; Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement, particularly improving access to water and sanitation.
• The 17 other countries that have eliminated trachoma are: Benin, Cambodia, China, Gambia, Ghana, Islamic Republic of Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malawi, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Togo and Vanuatu.

Bharat Net Project

• The Union Cabinet recently approved an allotment of ₹1,39,579 crore for the next phase of Bharat Net to make 5G network available to remote areas of the country.

About BharatNet Project:

• The National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN), launched in October 2011, was renamed the Bharat Net Project in 2015.
• It is an ambitious project of the Government of India to provide broadband connectivity to all village panchayats in the country.
• It aims to provide affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households and on-demand capacity to all institutions to realize the vision of Digital India, in partnership with States and the private sector.
• The objective is to facilitate the delivery of e-governance, e-health, e-education, e-banking, Internet and other services to rural India.
• To achieve this, the existing fibres of PSUs (BSNL, Railtel and Power Grid) were utilised and incremental fibre was laid to connect to Gram Panchayats wherever necessary. 
• The entire project is being funded by the Universal service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up to improve telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country.
• The project is being executed by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), namely Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), which was incorporated on 25.02.2012 under Indian Companies Act 1956. 

Key Facts about Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF):

• It is a government fund established by the Government of India to provide financial support for the expansion of telecommunications and broadband services in rural and remote areas of the country.
• The primary objective of USOF is to bridge the digital divide and ensure that telecom and internet services are accessible to all, especially in areas where private telecom operators may find it economically unviable to operate due to high infrastructure costs and low population density.

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Courtesy: The Hindu