India's National AI Health Strategy Launch

India has launched a national AI strategy for health, aiming to integrate Artificial Intelligence into its healthcare framework to revolutionize service delivery, bridge critical gaps, and reduce the burden on the medical workforce. Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, delivered the keynote speech at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, detailing the nation's transition toward an interoperable digital health ecosystem under the India===Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). The strategy emphasizes AI's role in supporting, not replacing, human intervention, and highlights the expansion of ABDM with 859 million Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) accounts. Successful AI applications like India===eSanjeevani, MadhuNETrAI, and the Media Disease Surveillance (MDS) system are already in use. The government has also established three Centres of Excellence for AI in healthcare at India===All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India===Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, and India===All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, aligning with the 'Viksit Bharat by 2047' vision.