India Advocates Ethical and Inclusive AI in Healthcare at 79th World Health Assembly

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda highlighted India’s vision for ethical, equitable and people-centric use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare while addressing a high-level side event during the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva. The session focused on “Artificial Intelligence in Health: Laws, Ethical Oversight, Research and Equity” and brought together global leaders, policymakers, experts and delegates to discuss the future of AI-driven healthcare systems.

Addressing the international gathering, Shri Nadda emphasized that Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming healthcare delivery, governance systems, economies and public services across the world. He stated that while AI has enormous potential to revolutionize medical care, diagnostics and public health management, its development and deployment must remain guided by ethical principles, strong regulations and equitable access.

The Union Minister stressed that technology should not become a source of exclusion or inequality and said that AI must be implemented in a manner that benefits every citizen regardless of geography, language or socio-economic status. According to him, innovation in healthcare must be supported by transparent governance mechanisms, scientific research and public trust to ensure long-term sustainability and fairness.

Highlighting India’s digital transformation journey, Shri Nadda said the country began building its digital foundation more than a decade ago under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the launch of the Digital India initiative in 2015. He noted that the programme was designed to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge-based economy capable of adapting to future technologies including Artificial Intelligence.

The Minister explained that India’s National Health Policy introduced in 2017 envisioned the creation of an integrated, interoperable and inclusive digital healthcare ecosystem. Building upon this framework, the Government subsequently launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission in 2021, enabling the creation of consent-based digital health records and large-scale health data infrastructure to support efficient healthcare delivery and innovation.

Shri Nadda stated that digitization alone is not sufficient to improve health outcomes and emphasized the importance of sector-specific governance frameworks for responsible use of AI technologies in healthcare. In this context, he highlighted the launch of the Strategy for AI in Healthcare for India (SAHI), unveiled during the India AI Impact Summit in February 2026.

Describing SAHI as a landmark initiative, the Minister said it represents one of the first comprehensive AI healthcare strategies emerging from the Global South. He explained that the framework aims to guide India’s AI-driven healthcare journey through ethical, transparent and citizen-centric principles while balancing innovation with accountability and safety.

The Union Health Minister also drew attention to the complexity of implementing AI solutions in a country as large and diverse as India, where healthcare systems must serve more than 1.4 billion people across 22 official languages and varying levels of healthcare infrastructure. He warned that although AI has the potential to reduce healthcare gaps, poorly designed systems could also worsen inequalities if inclusivity and fairness are not prioritized.

To address these challenges, Shri Nadda spoke about India’s Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI (BODH), which has been developed to ensure that AI solutions are evaluated against real-world datasets representative of India’s diversity. The platform is intended to ensure that AI-powered healthcare tools perform safely, accurately and equitably for all sections of society.

The Minister underlined that trusted and interoperable health data ecosystems will play a crucial role in the future of AI-enabled healthcare. He called for stronger global collaboration among governments, institutions and healthcare organizations to advance ethical AI research, establish international standards and collectively address emerging healthcare challenges.

According to Shri Nadda, no single country can independently manage the opportunities and risks associated with Artificial Intelligence. He stressed the need for shared global efforts in areas such as ethical governance, data protection, medical research and equitable access to AI technologies.

He further stated that technological advancement should always remain anchored in ethics, trust and public welfare. Innovation, he said, must be accompanied by effective regulation while scale and adoption must be built through transparency and accountability.

Concluding his address, Shri Nadda remarked that the future of AI in healthcare will ultimately depend not just on technological capabilities but on the collective decisions taken by governments, institutions and societies. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, he said India believes not only in “Artificial Intelligence” but in “All-Inclusive Intelligence,” emphasizing that technology should become a force for universal welfare and inclusive global progress.

The Minister’s address reflects India’s growing role in shaping international discussions on digital health governance, ethical AI deployment and equitable healthcare innovation. With rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, digital health infrastructure and data-driven medical technologies, India is positioning itself as a major contributor to the global healthcare transformation.