AI Revolutionizes Public Health Services in India
Transforming Healthcare with Artificial Intelligence
New Delhi, Dec 6: The Indian government is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to significantly enhance public health services, particularly in addressing the challenges posed by tuberculosis and diabetes, as stated by Prataprao Jadhav, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare.
In a formal response in the Lok Sabha, Jadhav highlighted that the Ministry of Health has appointed AIIMS Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh, and AIIMS Rishikesh as ‘Centres of Excellence (CoE) for Artificial Intelligence’ to foster the development and implementation of AI-driven health solutions.
Among the AI initiatives developed by the Ministry are the Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) integrated into e-Sanjeevani, a solution for identifying Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), and an Abnormal Chest X-ray Classifier Model, among others.
The MadhuNetrAI solution, designed for DR identification, empowers non-specialist health workers to perform screenings for Diabetic Retinopathy. This AI tool automates the detection process by analyzing retinal fundus images, ensuring a standardized, accessible, and efficient triage system.
It categorizes DR into standard grades, allowing for better resource management by prioritizing urgent cases for specialist attention.
“This solution has been implemented in 38 facilities across 11 states, assisting in the screening of over 14,000 retinal images and benefiting around 7,100 patients,” Jadhav noted.
As part of the Tuberculosis elimination initiative, the ‘Cough against TB’ (CATB) AI solution is utilized for community-based screening of pulmonary TB. In areas where it has been deployed, this solution has achieved an additional yield of 12-16 percent in TB cases reported compared to traditional screening methods.
“From March 2023 to November 30, 2025, the CATB solution has screened more than 162,000 individuals,” the Minister added.
The Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) has been incorporated into the national telemedicine platform, eSanjeevani, to improve the quality of consultations by facilitating patient complaint entries and offering AI-generated differential diagnosis suggestions.
“Since the integration of CDSS in April 2023 until November 2025, 282 million consultations on eSanjeevani have benefited from standardized data capture, ensuring uniformity across health and wellness centers,” Jadhav stated.
Strict compliance with relevant standards and government regulations, including AI Governance Guidelines from MeitY, Ethical Guidelines for AI in Biomedical Research and Healthcare from ICMR, the Information Technology Act 2000, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, and the Information Security Policy for Healthcare by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, is ensuring high operational reliability, according to the Minister.