AI In Healthcare: Health Minister Launches National AI Framework, Testing Platform At AI Impact Summit 2026

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on Tuesday launched two national initiatives-SAHI and BODH-to establish a regulatory and evaluation framework for the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, stressing that AI must remain ethical, transparent and accountable.

The initiatives were unveiled at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam.

SAHI-the Secure AI for Health Initiative-has been introduced as a national roadmap to guide how AI tools are developed, validated and deployed across hospitals, public health programmes, pharmaceuticals and digital health systems. It lays down guardrails on governance, data stewardship, validation standards and monitoring mechanisms.

"SAHI is not merely a technology strategy. It is a governance framework and a national roadmap for the responsible use of AI in healthcare," Nadda said. "AI must assist doctors and health workers, not replace them. It must be ethical, transparent, accountable and people-centric."

Alongside SAHI, the minister launched BODH-the Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI- developed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in collaboration with the National Health Authority.

BODH is designed as a structured evaluation platform to test and validate AI models using diverse, anonymised real-world health datasets before their deployment at scale. Officials said the platform will assess performance, robustness, bias and generalisability without transferring or exposing underlying patient data.

Dr Catharina Boehme of the World Health Organization South-East Asia Regional Office commended India's move, saying the country is among the first to adopt a national AI strategy for health. "Innovation must strengthen systems, expand access and build trust," she said, noting that the strategy reflects a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.

Linking the initiative to India's broader digital transformation, the union minister said the Digital India programme launched in 2015 laid the foundation for building strong digital infrastructure. He noted that the National Health Policy had envisioned an interoperable and scalable digital health ecosystem aligned with the country's digital vision, and that the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has since created a digital public architecture for healthcare.

"AI does not operate in isolation. It depends on strong digital systems and high-quality data," he said, adding that consent-based data frameworks are being developed to empower citizens while ensuring privacy and security.

"AI solutions must be rigorously evaluated for performance, reliability and real-world readiness before they are integrated into clinical settings," Nadda said.

He also highlighted AI's potential in pharmaceuticals and clinical research. "AI-driven applications can accelerate drug discovery, shorten research timelines, enhance precision in clinical trials and reduce costs," he said, adding that this could strengthen affordable healthcare delivery.

Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said SAHI represents a long-term policy commitment and provides a common framework for the Centre, states and private partners. "Trust, safety and accountability must remain central to India's health AI journey," she said, adding that BODH would ensure AI tools used by clinicians are validated against real-world parameters.

The launch of SAHI and BODH establishes a national framework for the governance, testing and responsible scaling of AI in healthcare, as India expands the use of digital public infrastructure in the sector.

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