By Prathiba Raju and Abhijeet Singh
New Delhi: In today’s digitally-driven world, where technology is often hailed as the panacea for all ailments, Dr. Manashvi Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), emphasized the need for caution. He stressed that before integrating technology into public health, there must be a thorough social appraisal, ensuring that technology serves as the handmaiden of public policy and public goods.
Delivering the keynote address on the topic Negotiating “health and healthcare” in a fragmented and contested labyrinth of : Science, Technology, Engineering and VUCA at the fourth edition of Healthcare Leaders Summit, the top bureaucrat in the MoHFW, Government of India said, “When we talk about technology we have to be cognizant of the fact that it does has a social cost, so it is very important that we do social appraisal of technology before putting that into action.”
Dr Kumar further added, “Research and Development has to be nested and technology has to be handmaiden in public policy to deliver public goods.”
In his address the senior official emphasised, “While trying to bring down the cost (of technology used in healthcare) it is extremely important to ensure that we don’t venture into the realm of technological imperialism, digital stress, mental health etc.”
Prepending digital technology with the concept of VUCA (Volatility/ Vulnerability, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity ) Dr Kumar renamed it as “eVUCA” and said that, “Why do I need a digital stress in life, the human mind is the best mind when directed towards a dedicated, committed and passionate purpose.”
Quoting a World Economic Forum (WEF) report he flagged, “We have already transgressed six out of nine planetary boundaries for survival and last year (2023) has been declared as the history of mankind. We are witnessing transgressing cycles of seas, cloud bursts, floods, cyclones etc. So, we have to be cognizant of the milankovitch cycles of climate change, need to transgress epistemic boundaries and have to question the way we have been trained to function both as a student and as a service provider (healthcare).”
Concluding his address he emphasised that, “Digital health and digital in health have to be considered as two different things and while undertaking initiatives related to public health, community medicine etc. We must take into account that whatever we decide today will affect everyone tomorrow.”
