1. Introduction: Shifting the Focus from Cure to Prevention
The age-old saying, “prevention is better than cure,” holds even greater relevance today. Preventive healthcare plays a crucial role in promoting overall health and well-being by focusing on minimizing the risk of illness before it starts. This approach encourages regular health check-ups, healthier lifestyle choices, early screenings, and other proactive measures that help detect and manage potential health issues early on. By shifting the focus from treating diseases to preventing them, we can build a healthier population and significantly reduce the strain on our healthcare system—both in terms of cost and capacity.
The highly diverse population of India has many challenges to receive preventive and comprehensive healthcare. Regional differences, social and religious factors, and gender norms play crucial roles in delivering or practicing preventive healthcare. Some cultures have traditional beliefs about health and certain illnesses that clash with Western medicine, as a result, people are reluctant to take vaccines. To handle these kinds of barriers we need to enhance the entire healthcare system by providing a unified ecosystem like ABDM and by leveraging technology to create awareness and easy accessibility.
2. What is ABDM and Why It Matters
ABDM is an initiative by the Indian govt to provide a robust digital healthcare infrastructure. This mission aims to enhance healthcare accessibility, efficiency, and overall quality of healthcare by leveraging technology. It aims to empower healthcare professionals to connect to patients and provide quality care. It is important to note that 71% of India’s population uses smartphones which means 71% of the population can be empowered to access healthcare information and connect to healthcare providers easily – This suggests that providing preventive healthcare to our citizens should not be difficult if we build an inclusive healthcare ecosystem by leveraging technology and digitalization – Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is aiming to achieve this.
3. The Role of Digital Health Records in Prevention
The Ayushman Bharath Health Account (ABHA) is a unique health ID that will link an individual’s health records across different healthcare facilities facilitating easy access to an individual’s longitudinal health histories. When healthcare providers have access to the patient’s past health condition, prescriptions, investigation reports, family history, environmental factors, etc they will be in a better position to assess the health risks and advise the patient for preventive care.
4. How Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) can empower patients through access and awareness:
Unified Health Records: With a digital ABHA ID, patients can securely access their complete health history anytime, anywhere—ensuring continuity of care across doctors and hospitals.
Informed Decision-Making: By having access to test results, prescriptions, and treatment records in one place, patients can make more informed decisions about their health.
Consent-Based Data Sharing: Patients have full control over who can access their health data, ensuring privacy while enabling safe and transparent care coordination.
Awareness Through Digital Tools: Multilingual mobile apps under ABDM can deliver personalized health alerts, medication reminders, and educational content to increase health literacy, even in remote areas.
Reduced Dependency on Paper Records: By digitizing records, patients no longer have to worry about losing physical documents—critical during emergencies or long-term treatments.
5. Rural Healthcare: Bridging the Preventive Care Gap
In rural India, where healthcare access and awareness are limited, ABDM can be a game-changer. With ABHA-enabled digital records and regional-language apps, frontline workers and local clinics can monitor chronic conditions, track vaccination schedules, and detect health risks early—especially among underserved groups like women and children. Teleconsultation and mobile-based reminders can help bypass geographical and social barriers, making preventive care more accessible than ever.
6. Challenges to Realizing the Preventive Promise
- Low Health Literacy and Awareness: In our country, a significant population is unaware of the early warning signs of diseases, preventive screenings, and lifestyle risks. As a result of this the approach healthcare givers on the onset of the disease and many a times on the advance stage of the disease.
- Limited Access to Primary Healthcare: In rural and underserved places, the lack of accessible and affordable primary healthcare prevents early detection and preventive interventions.
- Data Gaps and Fragmentation: Currently, our healthcare system is highly fragmented, most of the facilities are working in silos. As a result of this healthcare providers do not have access to 3600 views of patient’s health data making it difficult to implement personalized preventive care.
- Systemic Focus on Curative over Preventive Care: Healthcare providers generally focus more on immediate treatment rather than preventive care because most cases they are overburdened.
7. The Road Ahead: Building a Preventive-First Health Ecosystem
Creating a truly preventive-first health ecosystem in India requires strong collaboration between the government, private sector, and local communities. Each stakeholder has a critical role to play—from policy-making and infrastructure development to grassroots awareness and care delivery. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) is a pivotal enabler in this journey, offering the digital backbone needed to support proactive and personalized healthcare. By promoting tools like ABHA IDs, health record portability, and consent-based data sharing, ABDM empowers both patients and providers with timely access to health information. Investments must also be directed toward large-scale health education campaigns, training frontline workers, and building tech infrastructure that reaches even the most underserved regions. When aligned with culturally relevant awareness efforts, these digital innovations can empower individuals to take charge of their health early on. Together, with ABDM at the core, we can shift the focus from illness to wellness—ensuring a healthier, more resilient India.