Updated: October 13, 2020 5:12:42 pm
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization, said the WHO is focused exclusively on saving lives during the pandemic. (Salvatore Di Nolfi / Keystone via AP, file)
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cited India’s Covid-19 contact tracing app Aarogya Setu as one of several tech tools to help public health departments identify clusters. and expand testing.
At the latest WHO press conference, Ghebreyesus emphasized the need to implement “tried and tested public health tools” such as self-isolation and contract tracing to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19, saying that technologies such as Mobile apps were making these tools more “effective.” “The Aarogya Setu app in India that has been downloaded by 150 million users” is one such technology, he said.
“Aarogya Setu has helped city public departments to identify areas where clusters could be anticipated and to increase testing for Covid-19 in specific ways,” Ghebreyesus said.
The government launched the Aarogya Setu contact tracking app in April to alert users when they come into close contact with a person infected with Covid-19. The application also informs users if they have a chance of getting infected with the virus. In May, weeks after the app’s launch, critics and cyber law experts said the app was too closed in nature and lacking adequate data protection measures. Following this, the government released the application’s source code in an attempt to promote transparency.
Aside from India, Ghebreyesus mentioned contract tracking apps from countries like Germany (Corona Warn app) and the UK (NHS’s Covid-19 app), among others, that have helped healthcare systems track likely infected people.
He also highlighted that WHO was working with these countries to assess the effectiveness of their digital applications.
Prior to this, the WHO chief had praised India’s efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the Dharavi slum in Mumbai and said that even though the outbreak was very intense, it was under control.
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