The onset of COVID-19 acted as a catalyst for the healthcare industry, driving a growing interest in digital health solutions within health centers and systems. Digital technologies are now integral to daily life, and the world’s population has never been more interconnected. India proved its prowess in developing and implementing the CoWIN platform in less than three months during Covid lockdown. In less than 18 months, CoWIN helped administer two billion Covid-19 vaccination doses, protecting over 90% of all eligible adults. At the recent Interim Budget 2024, the introduction of the U-WIN marks a commendable leap into efficient healthcare management through another tech-forward approach. This has shown how India has been progressively digitising its health systems to improve efficiency and reach the last mile. The term “Digital Health” is all encompassing and includes all applications emerging from the intersection of healthcare and technology. The WHO defines digital health as “a broad umbrella term encompassing eHealth, as well as emerging areas, such as the use of advanced computing sciences in ‘big data’, genomics and artificial intelligence”. Off late, the world has witnessed a boom in the health technology market for products such as wearables, telemedicine, e-pharmacies etc. In addition, there has been tremendous research and development in the integration of technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, blockchain and virtual reality with pharmaceuticals and healthcare. The Indian medical devices market is another key driver of growth in the healthcare sector. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 37% from 2020 to 2025, reaching USD 50 billion by 2025. The Health Ministry also introduced the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in 2021 and is now applicable nationwide.

The WHO Global Strategy on Digital Health, adopted in 2020 by the World Health Assembly, was mainly for a roadmap to link the latest developments in innovation and digital health. On India’s front, the country’s G20 presidency in 2023, along with the WHO recently launched the Global Initiative on Digital Health (GIDH) virtually, a platform for sharing knowledge and digital products among countries. The broad scope of digital health includes categories such as mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth and telemedicine, and personalized medicine. In this backdrop, Bharat Exhibitions is pleased to present the first edition of Bharat Digital HealthCare Summit 2024 scheduled on 6th April 2024 at Hotel The Suryaa, New Delhi. This conference will bring together key leaders, innovators, developers, and experts from the healthcare and technology sectors.