Page 115 - ITU KALEIDOSCOPE, ATLANTA 2019

DESIGNING NATIONAL HEALTH STACK FOR PUBLIC HEALTH:
ROLE OF ICT-BASED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

2
1
Dr. Charru Malhotra ; Vinod Kotwal ; Aniket Basu 3
1 Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
2 Department of Telecommunication, Government of India
3 Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi

ABSTRACT The Alma Ata declaration of the World Health Conference
(1978) reflects the ideals of social justice and equality taking
Public health (PH), as a domain, requires astute at its point of departure that health is a fundamental human
amalgamation of the workings of different disciplines, right. The declaration can be accepted as a major milestone
because its eventual aim is to ‘prevent’ and not just ‘cure’ in delineation of public health wherein it had unequivocally
the health concerns of the entire community/population underpinned adoption of a multidisciplinary approach to
under consideration. Public health goals can be achieved achieve the milestone of ‘Health for All’.
more meaningfully by the application of information
communication technology (ICT) that helps in overcoming The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals
the bottlenecks of brick-and-mortar healthcare models. (SDGs) are meant to be achieved by the year 2030. Out of
Online consultations, cloud-based health management the 17 SDGs, SDG 1 (No poverty), SDG 2 (Zero hunger),
solutions, smart service-supported diagnoses are some such SDG 3 (Good health & well-being), SDG 6 (Clean water &
examples. The present study attempts to explore the design sanitation) and SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities) are closely
and implementation of ICT-based holistic knowledge linked to human health. However, of particular relevance is
management systems (KMS) to address public health SDG 3 that aims to ensure healthy lives and promote
concerns at the national level. At any point in time, different wellbeing for all at all ages. Amongst other goals, SDG 3
management information systems (MIS) are being used by focuses on reduction in maternal mortality rate (MMR),
various public authorities that directly or indirectly impact reduction of non-communicable diseases through prevention
PH. However, the data being generated by these MIS is and treatment, achieve universal health coverage, including
“stove piped” into standalone, heterogeneous databases. financial risk protection, access to quality essential
Non-standardized data formats, incompatible IT systems, an healthcare services and access to safe, effective, quality and
aggravated sense of ownership by the agency that collects affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all, etc [1].
the data are some of the factors that further worsen the Also, understanding the linkages of health with other factors,
problem. To overcome these issues, based on the study of SDG 3 aims to substantially reduce the number of deaths and
best practices and literature review, the review paper illnesses from hazardous chemicals, air, water and soil
proposes a conceptual model, referred to as national health pollution and contamination by the year 2030. There is
stack (NHS). NHS is a multilayered KMS designed to support emphasis on research and development (R&D), capacity
evidence-based decisions of public health and would pave building for early warning, risk reduction and management
the way towards “Good Health and well being” (UN SDG 3) of national and global health risks.
for All.
Public health (PH) by definition is "the science and art of
Keywords – Application program interface (API), digital preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting
service standard, emerging technologies (AI, IoT, ML, human health through organized efforts and informed
blockchain, wearable/immersive technologies), knowledge choices of society, organizations, public and private,
management systems (KMS), national health stack (NHS), communities and individuals" [2]. It is therefore understood
public health (PH), quality of life (QoL) to be the science of protecting the safety and improving the
health of communities including mental health through
1. INTRODUCTION prevention and treatment of diseases with the aim of
improving the quality of life (QoL). PH is an
“Attainment of the highest possible level of health is a most interdisciplinary field that takes inputs from epidemiologists,
important world-wide social goal whose realization requires microbiologists, food technologists, veterinarians,
the action of many other social and economic sectors in environmental and occupational health experts, community
addition to the health sector...” health experts, behavioral health specialists, health
economists, biostatisticians, public policy experts, etc. [3].
Declaration of Alma Ata, 1978

978-92-61-28401-5/CFP1968P-ART @ ITU 2019 – 95 – Kaleidoscope