Calls for Strong Regulatory Pathway and Safety Evaluation Before Large-Scale Adoption
New Delhi: Former Deputy Director-General of the World Health Organization, Soumya Swaminathan, on Friday underscored the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, especially in regions facing an acute shortage of specialist doctors.
She pointed out that several parts of India, as well as regions in Africa, continue to struggle with limited access to radiologists, psychiatrists and pathologists. In such settings, AI-driven tools could significantly improve diagnostic capacity and healthcare delivery.
Swaminathan explained that one of the simplest and most effective applications of AI in medicine is image and pattern recognition. Technologies trained on high-quality datasets can assist in reading X-rays and analysing pathology slides with considerable accuracy, thereby supporting overburdened healthcare systems.
She noted that many such AI-based healthcare solutions are already being deployed and that innovation in this sector is accelerating rapidly. From diagnostic tools to predictive health models, AI applications are steadily expanding their footprint across medical services.
However, she stressed that the adoption of AI in healthcare must be accompanied by rigorous evaluation. Drawing a comparison with the introduction of new drugs or vaccines, Swaminathan said AI tools must undergo thorough assessment for efficacy and safety before being implemented on a large scale.
She further emphasised the need for a well-defined regulatory pathway to govern AI products in healthcare. Proper oversight, she said, would ensure patient safety, build public trust and prevent misuse or premature deployment of untested technologies.
Her remarks came in the context of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the first global AI summit to be hosted in the Global South. The event reflects India’s broader vision of “AI for Humanity” and promotes inclusive, ethical and sustainable development of artificial intelligence technologies.
At the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the MANAV Vision framework focusing on moral and ethical systems, accountable governance, national sovereignty, accessibility and legitimacy. The event also witnessed major announcements, including a partnership between Tata Group and OpenAI to build 100 MW of AI infrastructure in India, scalable to 1 GW, along with the launch of BharatGen Param2, a 17-billion parameter language model supporting 22 Indian languages.
