Current e-Governance Scenario in Healthcare sector of India

The current e-governance scenario in the healthcare sector in India is disappointing. Public health services run by the government are overburdened and collapsing. Large geographical size, increased population density, lack of transport, inaccessibility, illiteracy, poverty, poor nutritional status, diversity in food habit and life style are various impediments. Government priorities for providing food, safe water and school education are yet to be fulfilled. At this stage low budget for health, lack of funds and coordination have triggered down trend in health services. As medical science is fast developing and information resource is pouring in, there is urgent need for dissemination knowledge by interlinking primary, secondary and tertiary level health centres by ICT applications. This paper reviews ICT applications at National Level and also in Orissa province. It presents facts on tele-medicine, tele-referal services and health information dissemination by Video conferencing, Gramsat and e-Grama tools used in Orissa. The prospects and constraints of ICT implementation for Governance of healthcare is addressed.