Open source technology aiding Indian govt fight against Non-Communicable Diseases: Mallari Kulkarni, head, Digital LifeCare 

Screening, diagnosis and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in India is a massive task given the country’s population of more than 1.3 billion.

Recognising the challenge, computer maker Dell teamed up with Tata Trusts to design and implement a Digital LifeCare solution for the NCD national program under the government Ayushman Bharat healthcare initiative.

Digital LifeCare has been designed to meet the needs of health workers and doctors at primary, secondary and tertiary government facilities as well as health officials responsible for implementing the program.

MoneyControl spoke to Mallari Kulkarni, head of Digital LifeCare, Dell Technologies.on the steps taken by the company to address the challenge posed by NCDs through open source technology. Edited excerpts:

How is Dell contributing to the government’s initiative for monitoring and following up Non-Communicable Diseases?

As a part of the government’s flagship program, Ayushman Bharat, it aims to screen all citizens in the age group of 30 years and above for NCDs as most of these diseases are chronic and remain undetected for a very long time, leading to complications and a higher mortality rate.

Screening and scanning roughly about 300 million people (37% of population above 30 years of age) and thereafter, treating approximately 100 million is an uphill task.

For screening and treating such a large population, technology is essential and therefore, Tata Trusts, Dell Technologies and the government of India have signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) basically to accelerate the digital transformation of detecting and treating NCDs.

 Also read: How India’s routine immunisation bounced back from disruptions of COVID pandemic

How is Digital LifeCare helping in following up on patients of NCDs? 

Dell Technologies’ Digital LifeCare platform is completely open-source and is built on digital rails and an open digital ecosystem to accelerate the digital transformation.

If 100 million people need to be followed up for treatment and they are not coming for screening, a message is going to them.

If they are not coming for annual re-screening, the messages are going. If they are not coming for follow-ups, again, the messages are delivered.

So this kind of direct communication to citizens is definitely ensuring the follow-up. Why was this possible? Because the platform was built with open source technologies and complete with an open architecture.

 How is Dell using the open-source technology in villages, where ANM (Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery) and ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers follow up on the diseases? 

We have built a new work plan module exclusively for ANM and ASHA workers that helps them to identify what are the tasks they need to complete because they are not just responsible for non-communicable diseases. They are responsible for multiple programmes because there are 12 services are provided at the health and wellness centres.

What are some of the advantages of using the open-source technology and how is Dell actually using it?

Today, Dell Digital LifeCare’s open source platform is hosted in 33 states and as of today, there are 135 million people enrolled. So 135 million people’s enrolment in the last three years is a huge achievement, to be honest. And when we launched, it was supporting only three languages; Hindi, English, and Telugu.

Since the platform was built on open source and open architecture, any state governments and the ministry approved development partners, volunteered to customize this platform to local languages. Hence, eight languages were added. And today, it supports 11 languages. Digital LifeCare has digitized the process at the grassroots level. Earlier, ASHA workers were dependent on a pen-paper model for maintaining records, but now, they can do that through their mobile devices.Also read: Zika's silent spread calls for urgent need to strengthen virus surveillance: ICMR study

The Digital LifeCare open-source platform is positioned for health and wellness centres across the country exclusively as a platform for non-communicable diseases.

The government is thinking of it as a comprehensive primary healthcare platform which can be used for health and wellness centres. So, in the health and wellness centres I talked about, 12 services are there, NCD is one of them. And now the government is seriously thinking of adding all the remaining the services to the Digital LifeCare platform and make it one platform for health and wellness centres.

So this is the way the government is making policies and Dell and Tata Trusts are enabling that policy through technology and through adoption of software on the ground.

How has Digital LifeCare digitised the diagnosis and treatment of NCDs on the ground?

Earlier, the government, was doing only data caption through paper, but now due to Digital LifeCare, the data is getting captured on the Edge devices using smartphones. Now, the data of about 300 million people is getting captured on the Edge devices and is getting synchronized to the cloud. Owing to the success of Digital LifeCare, government has made a policy where all the screening is being done digitally, using IoT (Internet of Things) devices.