RAS question
India's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) shifted to near-real-time reporting through which platform in 2021?
Correct answer: (D) Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP).
In 2021, India's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme shifted to near-real-time reporting through the Integrated Health Information Platform.
Explanation
India's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme moved to the Integrated Health Information Platform in 2021 because disease surveillance was being upgraded from paper-based, aggregate weekly reporting to a paperless, case-based system that could support near-real-time surveillance. The Press Information Bureau release says NCDC strengthened disease surveillance by implementing IDSP across all States and Union Territories and by making the 2021 transition to IHIP for paperless, case-based and near-real-time surveillance. IHIP, not a broader health mission or insurance platform, was the relevant platform for the IDSP shift. Current MoHFW material describes IDSP-IHIP as covering over 36 diseases and health conditions.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Ayushman Bharat is a broader insurance and Health and Wellness Centre framework, not IDSP's surveillance reporting platform.
- (B) National Health Mission is an umbrella health programme under which several public health activities may sit, but it is not the digital platform to which IDSP shifted for near-real-time reporting.
- (C) NRHM is a broader health mission; the 2021 IDSP transition used IHIP as the specific paperless, case-based surveillance platform.
Concept
The Science and Technology/Governance interface in public health surveillance includes the digital platform that changed how disease data is reported. RAS coverage of health infrastructure schemes often focuses on the exact implementing platform, not just the parent programme.