Geneva: JP Nadda highlights Strategy for AI in Healthcare for India, says AI must be shaped by ethical oversight, commitment to equity
New Delhi, May 21
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda during his address at an event held in the World Health Assembly in Geneva emphasised that while Artificial Intelligence presents immense opportunities for advancing healthcare delivery, it must be "shaped by sound regulation, rigorous research, ethical oversight, and a deep commitment to equity so its benefits reach every citizen".
Nadda said this in his address at a side event on "Artificial Intelligence in Health: Laws, Ethical Oversight, Research and Equity" during the 79th World Health Assembly, Geneva.
Addressing a distinguished gathering of global leaders, delegates, experts and policymakers, Nadda highlighted the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in reshaping healthcare systems, governance frameworks, economies and the lives of citizens across the world.
The Union Health Minister stated that India had laid a strong digital foundation over a decade ago under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the launch of the Digital India initiative in 2015. He noted that the initiative aimed to "transform India into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge economy, preparing India for future technologies, including AI."
Nadda further underlined that India's National Health Policy of 2017 envisioned an integrated, interoperable, inclusive and scalable digital health ecosystem. Building upon this vision, the Government launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission in 2021 along with consent-based digital health data frameworks, enabling the creation of quality health data.
The Union Health Minister stressed that digitisation and data alone are insufficient to achieve better health outcomes and that sector-specific governance frameworks are essential for safe and responsible deployment of AI. In this context, he highlighted the launch of the Strategy for AI in Healthcare for India (SAHI) during the India AI Impact Summit in February 2026.
He described SAHI as "the first comprehensive strategy emerging from the Global South, guiding India's healthcare journey in an ethical, transparent and people-centric manner."
Highlighting India's unique scale and diversity, the Union Minister noted that the country is governing AI for 1.4 billion citizens across 22 official languages and varying levels of healthcare access.
He cautioned that while AI has the potential to bridge healthcare gaps, it could also deepen inequities if not designed responsibly.
To address this challenge, Nadda spoke about the creation of BODH - Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI - which ensures that AI solutions deployed in India are benchmarked against real-world datasets so that they perform safely and equitably for every Indian everywhere.
Calling for greater international collaboration, the Union Health Minister stated that no country can address the challenges and opportunities of AI in isolation.
He emphasised India's commitment to working with global partners to strengthen trusted and interoperable health data ecosystems, promote collaborative research, advance ethical AI development and collectively address shared healthcare challenges.
Nadda emphasised that innovation must be guided by regulation, scale must be earned through trust and technological advancement must remain anchored in equity, ethics and public good.
Union Health Minister said that the future of AI in healthcare would not be written by algorithms alone, but by the collective choices of governments, institutions and societies. Referring to Prime Minister Modi's vision, he stated that India believes not merely in "Artificial Intelligence" but in "All-Inclusive Intelligence," and called upon the global community to ensure that AI becomes a force for global good.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Impressive that India is presenting a comprehensive framework like SAHI at the World Health Assembly. The emphasis on equity is particularly important - AI in healthcare should not just benefit the urban rich who can afford latest technology. But I wonder how the data privacy concerns will be addressed for the rural population who may not fully understand digital consent.
As someone who works in healthcare tech, this is music to my ears! 🎵 The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has already digitized millions of health records, and now with AI integration, we could actually see predictive analytics help with early disease detection. The 22 languages challenge is real though - hope they partner with local startups who understand the nuances of regional languages.
India's "All-Inclusive Intelligence" framing is beautiful and much needed 🙏 But I have a small concern: ethical oversight is important, but excessive regulation could slow down innovation. There needs to be a balance. Also, given India's doctor-to-patient ratio, AI could be a game-changer for telemedicine in villages. Let's hope the government actually allocates proper budget for this.
Nice to see India stepping up on global health tech discussions. The SAHI framework seems comprehensive, but I'm curious about the implementation timeline. We've had the National Health Policy since 2017 and Ayushman Bharat since 2021, yet many rural primary health centers still lack basic digital infrastructure. AI needs a solid foundation of clean, standardized data - is India ready for that?
As a doctor working in a district hospital, I see both promise and pitfall.
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