New Delhi, August 5, 2025 – Under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the government has reinforced cybersecurity and data protection measures to safeguard citizens’ health information.
Stakeholders can exchange health data only after obtaining the patient’s explicit consent. Before integration with ABDM, all digital health applications must undergo rigorous validation in a sandbox environment and security audits, including Web Application Security Audits (WASA), to ensure they comply with the Health Data Management Policy (2020) and protect sensitive patient information.
The mission has introduced the Health Information Exchange and Consent Manager (HIECM) to facilitate secure and standardized interoperability of health records across providers. Similarly, the Unified Health Interface (UHI) offers a protocol-based gateway for health services, ensuring uniformity and compatibility. To further promote electronic health record (EHR) adoption, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has established the National Resource Centre for EHR Standards (NRCeS) following the release of India’s EHR standards in 2013 and 2016.
To bridge digital literacy gaps, the government has made the ABHA portal and Personal Health Record (PHR) application multi-lingual and user-friendly. The mission also supports assisted and offline ABHA creation in areas with limited internet connectivity or hardware.
Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Prataprao Jadhav, shared these updates in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today, affirming the government’s commitment to building a secure, inclusive, and interoperable digital health ecosystem.
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