eSwasthaya of BIES is one of the Ten Projects chosen by Digital Partners (A Seattle based organization) from a group of nearly 140 applicants from around the world for the Social Enterprise International Award for the year 2003-2004.Among the Ten Finalists, projects are from Tanzania, Mexico, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Uganda and Nigeria.

eSwasthaya seeks to provide Health Cards and Online Medical Advice to the underprivileged in the project area. The Health Cards would enable the patients to walk into any of the twenty one health centres and with the help of patient ID their health history would be extracted from the network and updated accordingly. To optimise the utilisation of decentralised resources, Health Specialists present at the main health centre or Health Consultants can provide instant online medical advice to the patients at any of the health centres. The network will act as a health programme awareness (Polio Eradication, Vaccination, HIV, Kala-azar etc.) and health product (Family Planning/population control etc.) awareness medium for the under privileged. The Network and terminals will also act as centre for e-learning. Upon successful implementation, the project will be linked to the other health centres in the Madhubani district and will eventually be taken to different districts of Bihar and gradually to the national level.

eSwasthya (eHealth) Card

COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMME
Health for all is still a mirage in the rural communities. The objective of a community development programme is to reach the poorest at a very low cost. Most neglected section of the community, the women are always left out of the ambit of the health care system, however large or skeletal it might be. People are still ignorant of the vicious death cycle of women which means that if she is spared at the birth (infanticide or foeticide), she is malnourished, unhealthy women who will in turn give birth to weak low weight babies. Maternal and child mortality among the women is also a cause of worry. This programme is primarily focused on mother and child care. It provides pre-natal care and information to pregnant women. It also informs about preventive health care.

FUNCTIONING OF HEALTH CENTRES
All the assets, including the building of the Twenty one (21) centres have been transferred and registered to the Project Implementing Agency (PIA) by the District Administration of Madhubani for the effective functioning of these centres for five (5) years. An agreement has also been signed between for this purpose. Further, as per the agreement, the PIA has to develop Community Based Organisation in the respective villages and train them suitably for the management of the health centres so that, after the end of fifth year these twenty one health centres are transferred to the CBO’s.