India restructures public health delivery by integrating AI into unified strategy

by IANS |

New Delhi, Feb 13 (IANS) India has fundamentally restructured its public health delivery by integrating AI into a unified strategy, that bridges specialist shortages and scales proactive care, an official statement said on Friday.

By deploying AI-enabled tools within the National TB Elimination Programme, the National Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Programme, and the Media Disease Surveillance System, the government has empowered non-specialists to perform high-level screenings, resulting in a 27 per cent decline in adverse TB outcomes and over 4,500 outbreak alerts.

This transformation is further solidified through the e-Sanjeevani, which has supported 282 million consultations with AI-assisted differential diagnosis, and the UdyogYantra AI System for malnutrition monitoring, the statement said.

This has created a comprehensive ecosystem that spans from infectious disease management and cancer care to the modernisation of traditional Ayurvedic medicine and the National One Health Programme.

India will host the Global South's first international AI summit in New Delhi from February 16-20, bringing together global leaders, policymakers, technology firms, innovators, and experts.

The summit will cover AI-centred policy, research, industry, and public engagement.

According to the government, AI is helping address gaps in healthcare delivery, improve the quality of medical devices, services and drugs and make it more accessible and affordable. AI-enabled healthcare ecosystem is helping in early detection and screening, enhanced clinical decision support and providing remote care.

Notably, in March 2024, the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the comprehensive national-level IndiaAI mission with a budget outlay of Rs 10,371.92 crore for promoting India’s socio-economic development using AI. The IndiaAI Mission initiatives are supporting innovation in AI-enabled healthcare applications.

“One of the pillars of the mission is the IndiaAI Application Development Initiative. This scheme aims to develop, scale, and promote the adoption of impactful AI solutions designed to tackle significant national challenges. Advanced and efficient AI-enabled healthcare delivery is one of the many outcomes of this initiative,” said the statement.