As the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) rolls out across the country, state governments have started collating digital health records already. The latest is the Delhi government, whose cabinet has given financial approval to its eHealth card and Health Information Management System (HIMS) project, according to a report by the Hindustan Times. The project, formulated in 2018, deals with issuing Unique Health IDs and PVC cards as part of a larger HIMS that is expected to manage appointment bookings, hospital administration, supply chains, etc. Health data is sensitive and although state governments are allowed to process it, the data needs to have strict security and access controls in place. How is this expected to work? What will the health IDs be linked to? According to reports, the IDs will be mandatorily linked to the Delhi-registered Voter IDs of adult citizens, who will at first be issued a temporary eHealth Card. These cards will be made permanent after a year, during which their information will be verified. Children's health cards and UHIDs will be linked with their parents' IDs. For newborn children, the IDs will be connected to that of their mothers. How can individuals register? Government hospitals and other centres will allow individuals to create such IDs, although there are plans to have 'door-to-door' registrations as well. The Delhi government has also said that individuals can pre-register, although it is not clear how or when this provision will be available. When will the project go live? The roll-out of the Health IDs…
