Program Officer, Abdm

Overview:
The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to our mission of saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries. We work at the invitation of governments to support them and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.

CHAI was founded in 2002 in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the goal of dramatically reducing the price of life-saving drugs and increasing access to these medicines in the countries with the highest burden of the disease. Over the following two decades, CHAI has expanded its focus. Today, along with HIV, we work in conjunction with our partners to prevent and treat infectious diseases such as COVID-19, malaria, tuberculosis, and hepatitis. Our work has also expanded into cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases, and we work to accelerate the rollout of lifesaving vaccines, reduce maternal and child mortality, combat chronic malnutrition, and increase access to assistive technology. We are investing in horizontal approaches to strengthen health systems through programs in human resources for health, digital health, and health financing. With each new and innovative program, our strategy is grounded in maximizing sustainable impact at scale, ensuring that governments lead the solutions, that programs are designed to scale nationally, and learnings are shared globally.

At CHAI, our people are our greatest asset, and none of this work would be possible without their talent, time, dedication and passion for our mission and values. We are a highly diverse team of enthusiastic individuals across 40 countries with a broad range of skillsets and life experiences. CHAI is deeply grounded in the countries we work in, with most of our staff based in program countries.

In India, CHAI works in partnership with its India registered affiliate William J Clinton Foundation (WJCF) under the guidance of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) at the Central and States' levels on an array of high priority initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes. Currently, WJCF supports government partners across projects to expand access to quality care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, tuberculosis, COVID-19, common cancers, sexual and reproductive health, immunization, and essential medicines.

**Project Background**:
Launched nation-wide in September 2021, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) seeks to power India’s quest for Universal Health Coverage by creating the interoperability required for health information and records to be exchanged seamlessly across digital platforms, leading over time to improved access, quality and affordability of health services. Central to ABDM is the the concept of a health account (Ayushman Bharat Health Account or ABHA). An individual with an ABHA can link their personal health and / or medical records to this account, and provide their consent to share their records with any other system that is ABDM-enabled. For instance, if they have been referred to a specialist for a consultation, they may provide them with access to diagnostic and other records that provide the specialist a comprehensive view of their medical history.

The National Health Authority (NHA), an autonomous government institution manages the implementation of ABDM across the country. There has been tremendous progress so far, with 520+ million ABHA created, ~230,000 health facilities and ~270,000 health professionals registered. With 160+ health systems and apps ABDM-enabled, and the introduction of functionalities such as ‘scan and share’ for OPD registration, usage is deepening as well, with over 335 million health records already linked to ABHAs.[1] With new platforms powered by ABDM such as the Unified Health Interface (UHI) and Health Claims Exchanged (HCX) being introduced, the health ecosystem in India is poised to fully leverage ABDM’s potential.

WJCF has been supporting the operationalization and roll-out of ABDM since January 2021, working closely with and under the guidance of the NHA. Our has been on driving adoption of ABDM among healthcare providers, especially private sector physicians. A key constituency in the private sector are doctors, who are not only the main ‘consumers’ of health and medical records (on the basis of which they make their diagnoses and prescribe care) but also the main ‘producers’ of these records.

**Position Summary**:
WJCF supports Uttar Pradesh in driving adoption of ABDM in the private sector in eight districts among the private sector (Aligarh, Bareilly, Bijnore, Ghaziabad, Hardoi, Muzaffarnagar, Rampur, and Saharanpur), as a Development Partner under the NHA’s ‘100 Microsites’ initative. Our primary responsibilities include building capacity of the field staff deployed by the ‘Interfacing Agency’ and supporting the State ABDM Office in monitoring progress and reporting to th