On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) under which “every Indian will get a Health ID card.” He said: “Every time you visit a doctor or a pharmacy, everything will be logged in this card.” The NDMH seeks to create an ecosystem under which health records will be digitised. The government has clarified that this would be voluntary, data will be stored locally, and only anonymised data will be shared upwards. We discuss whether real-time capturing of demographic data and broad health indicators will lead to benefits that outweigh the perceived and real risks of erosion of privacy.

Guests: A.R. Nanda, a demographer who served as Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India as well as Health Secretary. Venkat Srinivasan, a Boston-based technology entrepreneur, deploys AI in finance, accounting, health and education.

Host: Varghese K. George, Associate Editor, The Hindu

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