Gandhinagar:
The Gujarat government on Wednesday hailed its Health Passport initiative as first-of-its-kind, aimed at making healthcare services for children and adolescents “smarter, more sustainable, and family-friendly.
The government stated that every child, from newborns to age 18, will receive the Health Passport under the School Health-Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (SH-RBSK). The physical card will serve as “a complete and authentic record of a child’s health journey from birth through adolescence,” stated an official release.
The statewide initiative was launched on June 27 by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the presence of the Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel.
Under the SH-RBSK scheme, around 1.89 crore children undergo annual health check-ups conducted by 992 mobile health teams.
While the records of these check-ups are currently maintained on a digital portal, parents and children do not have a handy document that can be readily used during routine consultations, medical treatment, or follow-up visits.
The government stated that the ‘Health Passport’ has been introduced to bridge this gap by providing every child with a systematic, comprehensive, and easily accessible record of their health history.
“The Health Passport will be the master document containing each child’s complete medical history. It will include the child’s basic details along with a comprehensive record of age-specific health check-ups from birth to 18 years of age,” it said.
The passport will also track the four key health categories (4Ds) under SH-RBSK: defects at birth, deficiencies, childhood diseases, and developmental delays and disabilities.
It will also record details of the child’s physical and mental growth and development, nutritional status, referral services, nutrition and health guidance, lifestyle advice, and emergency helpline numbers, added the release.
While the physical Health Passport will remain with parents, all information will be synchronised with the SH-RBSK digital portal, ensuring seamless record management, it said.
“If the physical Health Passport is lost or damaged, a new copy can be obtained from the mobile health team,” according to the release.
Health screenings will be conducted by SH-RBSK mobile health teams at Anganwadis, schools, madrasas, gurukuls, and special schools. Post-screening, once the child’s details are entered into the digital platform, the Health Passport will be issued at the screening site itself,” it said.
As far as its renewal is concerned, the Health Passports of children up to five years of age and those not attending school will be renewed annually by the Medical Officer (MO) of the Primary Health Centre (PHC), while those of school-going children will be renewed by the school principal, it said.
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