AIIMS Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh and AIIMS Rishikesh Designated as Centres of Excellence for AI in Healthcare
New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is actively leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to strengthen and transform public health services across India, the government informed the Rajya Sabha during a recent session.
To institutionalize AI-driven innovation in healthcare, the Ministry has designated All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Chandigarh, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences Rishikesh as Centres of Excellence (CoE) for Artificial Intelligence. These institutions will function as key hubs for developing and implementing AI-based healthcare solutions across various public health domains.
The main objective of the initiative is to promote the research, development and deployment of AI technologies that can significantly improve healthcare outcomes and strengthen public health systems in the country.
Collaboration with Government and Private Institutions
Under this initiative, the Ministry has partnered with several important organizations including the Central Tuberculosis Division, National Centre for Disease Control, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing Mohali, Indian Council of Medical Research, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Education.
In addition, the Ministry has also collaborated with Wadhwani AI to provide technical expertise and support to the Centres of Excellence as well as other government healthcare institutions.
Rajya Sabha Query on AI in Public Health
During the session, Member of Parliament Darshana Singh raised questions regarding whether the government had launched any program or scheme under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to use Artificial Intelligence in public health.
She sought details on the objectives, financial provisions and framework of the PPP initiative and asked how the program would improve healthcare access, quality of services and human resource management in the sector. She also questioned whether there are plans to expand the model to states and health institutions across the country.
Government Highlights AI Initiatives in Healthcare
Responding to the queries, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav stated that the Ministry is actively using AI technologies to drive transformative improvements in public healthcare delivery across India.
He emphasized that the Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence have been created to encourage the development and implementation of AI-based healthcare solutions that can support doctors, improve disease detection and strengthen healthcare systems.
AI-Based Health Solutions Already Developed
Several AI-based tools and healthcare solutions have already been developed under this initiative. These include a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) integrated with the eSanjeevani telemedicine platform, Media Disease Surveillance under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, and an AI-based Diabetic Retinopathy identification solution.
Other innovations include the AI-powered ‘Cough Against Tuberculosis’ (CATB) tool designed for tuberculosis screening. According to the government, some of these AI solutions are already operational in collaboration with central and state health institutions across the country.
