Aarogya Setu, the official national contact tracing app in India, is the latest app to connect with the Ayushman Bharat Health Account, the health ID component of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission. 

Developed by the National Informatics Centre under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the mobile app does not only track COVID-19 cases but also provide users with COVID-19 related information, such as protocol updates and services. It uses Bluetooth technology and taps into real-time location data to determine a user's risk of getting exposed to a nearby COVID-19 case. 

The app, which was launched in April 2020, is available on both Android and iOS devices.

WHY IT MATTERS

This integration enables around 214 million users of the national contact tracing app to create their unique 14-digit ABHA. The health ID allows users to link their existing and new medical records into their ABHA and share them with health providers.

National Health Authority CEO Dr Ram Sewak Sharma said through the integration, "we will now be able to make the benefits of ABDM available to the users of Aarogya Setu and enable them to join the digital health ecosystem with their due consent".

Later, the app will be updated to display a user's health record from ABHA. 

THE LARGER TREND

Aarogya Setu adds to the growing number of mobile health apps that integrates with the ABHA. Early this month, personal health records app DRiefcase and EMR platform Docon Technologies have received government approval to connect with ABHA. 

Last year March, the app integrated with the CoWIN portal, allowing users to book their COVID-19 vaccinations through the app. 

Following findings from independent reviews that the app poses security risks, MeitY made the source code of the Aarogya Setu app public to promote transparency and ensure the app's security and integrity. It also launched a bug bounty programme, seeking the help of the developer community to spot vulnerabilities or improvements in the app's code.