Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday allocated Rs 341.02 crore to the Ayushman Bharat National Digital Health Mission (ABDM) in Budget 2023. This allocation is 70.51 percent up from the FY23 allocation, which was Rs 200 crore.

The Centre had on February 26, 2022, approved the national roll-out of the ABDM scheme with a budget of Rs 1,600 crore for five years under the National Health Authority (NHA), as per a report released by the Press Information Bureau.

Allocation towards health expenditure overall for FY24 stands at a whopping Rs 88,956 crores, a Rs 2,350 crore hike of 2.71 percent from Rs 86,606 crores in FY23.

Here's a chart on the financial performance of the ABDM per the NHA's annual report:

An attempt at a "one-stop solution" for all the healthcare needs of the common man, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission was established in India with the aim of creating an integrated digital platform to improve the nation's health infrastructure.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had officially launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, also known as the National Digital Health Mission or the Pradhan Mantri Digital Health Mission on September 27, 2021.

"This mission leverages technology to improve access to healthcare and open doors for new innovation in the sector," the prime minister had said.

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Under the ABDM, citizens are provided with a Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) with a unique identifier that is linked to their personal health records shareable with healthcare providers and facilities.

According to the 2021-2022 report, the NHA created nearly 240 million ABHA numbers as of August 2022. Over 40,000 healthcare professionals and 1,38,200 health facilities are registered under the platform.

The agency has introduced performance-based incentivisation to motivate states to expand their range of services available on their platform.

The drive was first announced in Modi's Independence Day speech in 2020.

For LIVE updates on the Budget 2023 and Finance Nirmala Sitharaman's speech, click here.

(Edited by : C H Unnikrishnan)

First Published:Feb 1, 2023 1:54 PM IST