Why in the News?

India hosted a side event on Digital Health during the 77th World Health Assembly.The event saw participation from Quad countries (Australia, Japan, and the United States of America) and delegates from over 100 countries.

Key Highlights of the 7th WHA:

Transformative Role: India highlighted digital health’s role in ensuring equitable and accessible healthcare services, contributing to Universal Health Coverage and SDG 3.
India’s Advancements: WHA noted India’s success in implementing digital public infrastructure at scale, including Aadhaar for digital identities, Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for financial transactions, and Co-WIN for health service delivery during the pandemic.
Transition to UWIN: Co-WIN is being transformed into UWIN for the National Immunization Programme, facilitating immunization records for millions of newborns and mothers, as well as Anganwadi and school health records.
Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM): India highlighted efforts under ABDM to create a robust national digital health ecosystem, with over 618 million Unique Health IDs (ABHA IDs) generated, 268,000 registered health facilities, and 350,000 healthcare professionals enlisted.
National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX): GoI is launching NHCX as part of ABDM to transform the insurance payments ecosystem, enabling real-time settlements with auto adjudication of claims through public-private partnerships leveraging digital public infrastructure.

	Details
Establishment	Established in 1948 as the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO)
Frequency	Typically meets annually in Geneva, Switzerland
Membership	Includes all 194 member states of the WHO, as well as certain international organizations as observers
Role and Functions	Setting Health Policies Adoption of Resolutions Reviewing Reports Collaboration and Partnerships
Decision-Making Process	Decisions made by a simple majority vote of member states present and voting
Themes and Agendas	Each session focuses on specific global health priorities, addressing a wide range of health topics
Notable Achievements	Development and adoption of international health instruments and initiatives, including: International Health Regulations (IHR), Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), and Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health.
Challenges	Resource constraints, geopolitical tensions, need for greater inclusivity and transparency in decision-making

[2016] ‘Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres)’, often in the news, is

(a) A division of World Health Organization.

(b) A non-governmental international organization.

(d) A specialized agency of the United Nations.