India's Digital Divide is Preventing Millions with Diabetes from Benefiting from Digital Healthcare: Study
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The study recommends expanding digital literacy programmes, designing user-friendly technologies, strengthening caregiver support, and improving rural digital infrastructure to reduce inequalities.
India has witnessed rapid growth in digital healthcare for diabetes management, but a new study has found that these advancements have not been equally accessible to all sections of the population.
The research has highlighted that the digital divide continues to restrict equitable diabetes care, particularly among older adults, rural residents, women, and economically disadvantaged communities, despite the increasing availability of telemedicine, mobile health applications, and connected monitoring technologies.
The findings come from the DIG-EQUITY study, published in BMC Public Health, which examined the experiences of people with diabetes, caregivers, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and community organisations across urban and rural Tamil Nadu.
Using a multi-stakeholder approach, researchers assessed how individual, social, institutional, infrastructural, and policy factors collectively influence equitable access to digital health for diabetes care.
The study found that older adults experience the greatest challenges in using digital healthcare. Many require assistance from family members to schedule teleconsultations, access medical reports, or navigate health applications.
Age-related limitations such as reduced vision, hearing impairment, and lower digital confidence further reduce their ability to benefit from technology.
Geographical disparities further widen the digital divide. Urban populations generally benefit from better internet connectivity, higher smartphone ownership, and greater access to digital health services, while rural communities continue to struggle with unreliable networks, limited infrastructure, and shared digital devices within households.
Financial barriers also remain significant, as the cost of smartphones, internet data, wearable devices, and continuous glucose monitoring systems places digital healthcare beyond the reach of many low-income families.
Researchers also noted that digital literacy is as important as digital access. Simply owning a smartphone does not ensure that people can effectively use telemedicine platforms or health applications.
The study recommends expanding digital literacy programmes, designing user-friendly technologies, strengthening caregiver support, and improving rural digital infrastructure to reduce inequalities.
It also highlights the importance of strengthening trust in digital health through better data protection, supported by measures such as the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and the DPDP Rules, 2025.
The researchers conclude that digital healthcare can substantially improve diabetes outcomes in India, but only if inclusion becomes as important as innovation.
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