The coronavirus crisis has seen an unprecedented response from India and the world. If the viral outbreak has exposed gross inadequacies in the healthcare systems of nations both rich and poor, it has stirred a digital healthcare revolution that has been building since the past decade. We have seen how this new era of digital health evolved over the years since healthcare started getting increasingly unaffordable in the western countries forcing a relook in their strategies to explosion of digital innovations in mobile telephony and applications, internet, wearable devices, artificial intelligence, robotics, big data and genomics. The single biggest trigger for the digital shift has indeed been the COVID-19 pandemic this year, more so in India with astonishing response from the private enterprise and the proactive push from the government so evident. However, the full potential of this digital revolution cannot be realized as long as core structural reforms in public healthcare do not take place along with significant boost in digital infrastructure. The way digital technologies have helped facilitate strategy and response to the global pandemic and with predictions of more zoonotic outbreaks impending in the coming years, it has become imperative for the world to increasingly adopt and integrate digital innovations to make healthcare more accessible, interconnected and affordable.

中文翻译：

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健康是动力，数字是工具

印度和世界对冠状病毒危机做出了前所未有的反应。如果病毒爆发暴露了富国和穷国的医疗保健系统的严重不足，那么它就会激起一场自过去十年以来一直在建立的数字医疗保健革命。自从西方国家的医疗保健开始变得越来越难以负担以来，我们已经看到这个数字健康的新时代是如何演变的、大数据和基因组学。数字化转变的最大触发因素确实是今年的 COVID-19 大流行，印度的情况更是如此，私营企业的反应惊人，政府的积极推动如此明显。然而，只要公共医疗保健的核心结构改革没有随着数字基础设施的显着提升而发生，这场数字革命的全部潜力就无法实现。数字技术帮助促进战略和应对全球大流行的方式以及对未来几年即将发生的更多人畜共患病疫情的预测，世界必须越来越多地采用和整合数字创新，以使医疗保健更容易获得、互联和负担得起. 只要公共医疗保健的核心结构改革没有随着数字基础设施的显着提升而发生，这场数字革命的全部潜力就无法实现。数字技术帮助促进战略和应对全球大流行的方式以及对未来几年即将发生的更多人畜共患病疫情的预测，世界必须越来越多地采用和整合数字创新，以使医疗保健更容易获得、互联和负担得起. 只要公共医疗保健的核心结构改革没有随着数字基础设施的显着提升而发生，这场数字革命的全部潜力就无法实现。数字技术帮助促进战略和应对全球大流行的方式以及对未来几年即将发生的更多人畜共患病疫情的预测，世界必须越来越多地采用和整合数字创新，以使医疗保健更容易获得、互联和负担得起.