SAHI, BODH Initiatives launched to promote safe, transparent and accountable AI in healthcare

New Delhi: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, yesterday launched two pioneering digital health initiatives - SAHI (Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for India) and BODH (Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI) - at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

The launch marks a significant milestone in advancing safe, ethical, and evidence-based deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India’s healthcare ecosystem.

Describing the Summit as both timely and necessary, Shri Nadda emphasized that AI does not operate in isolation, but thrives on strong digital infrastructure and high-quality data. Recognizing this early, India began laying its digital foundations nearly a decade ago. In 2015, under the leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the Government launched the Digital India programme to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

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The Minister noted that the health sector aligned itself decisively with this national vision. The National Health Policy, 2017, envisaged the creation of a comprehensive digital health ecosystem that would be interoperable, inclusive, and scalable. Building on this vision, the Government launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in 2020 to establish a robust digital public architecture for healthcare.

Highlighting the progress achieved, Shri Nadda stated that sustained efforts have led to the creation of a strong digital public infrastructure in health. Interoperable systems have been enabled across platforms, and large-scale, consent-based health data frameworks are being developed to empower citizens while ensuring data privacy and security.

In this context, the Minister referred to the launch of SAHI, the Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for India, describing it as not merely a technology strategy but a governance framework, policy compass, and national roadmap for the responsible use of AI in healthcare. He stated that SAHI will guide India in leveraging AI in a manner that is ethical, transparent, accountable, and people-centric.

Shri Nadda also emphasized that SAHI provides a structured framework for collaboration, ensuring that innovation flourishes while public interest remains paramount.

The Minister also underlined the transformative potential of AI in pharmaceuticals and life sciences. AI-driven tools can accelerate drug discovery, shorten research timelines, enhance clinical trial precision, and make research processes more cost-effective, thereby strengthening affordable healthcare delivery.

He further highlighted the critical role of academic institutions in developing a future-ready healthcare AI workforce. The collaboration between Government and academia has led to the development of BODH — the Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI — which provides a structured mechanism for testing and validating AI solutions before deployment at scale.

Shri Nadda reiterated that AI solutions must be rigorously evaluated for performance, reliability, and real-world readiness. Together, SAHI and BODH represent India’s commitment to building a trustworthy, inclusive, and globally competitive health AI ecosystem grounded in innovation, responsibility, and public trust.

Addressing the gathering, Union Health Secretary, Punya Salila Srivastava, stated that under the visionary leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, India has made tremendous strides in leveraging technology to make governance more inclusive, transparent, and efficient.

She emphasized that the launch of SAHI and BODH marks an important step in advancing the application of AI in healthcare. SAHI, she said, represents a long-term policy commitment of the Government and provides a common framework for the Union and State Governments, as well as private partners, to guide AI evaluation, adoption, and integration within the healthcare ecosystem.

Smt. Srivastava further highlighted that BODH will play a critical role in ensuring that AI tools used by clinicians are safe, reliable, and validated against real-world parameters before deployment. She stressed that trust, safety, and accountability must remain central to India’s health AI journey.

Dr. Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge, World Health Organization South-East Asia Regional Office, also addressed the Summit and commended India’s leadership in digital health innovation. She noted that India is among the first countries to adopt a national AI strategy for health, setting an important global benchmark.

Dr. Boehme stated that the strategy has been designed to strengthen healthcare delivery, improve decision-making, and extend the reach of services to underserved populations. She emphasized that the approach reflects a simple but powerful principle — innovation must strengthen systems, expand access, and build trust.

Highlighting the importance of collaboration, she observed that India’s whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach ensures that SAHI reflects the realities of implementation on the ground, thereby enhancing its effectiveness and sustainability.

SAHI has been conceptualized as a comprehensive framework to promote secure, interoperable, and trustworthy AI solutions in the health sector. The initiative will facilitate collaboration among healthcare institutions, technology developers, researchers, and policymakers to ensure that AI tools meet rigorous standards of safety, efficacy, and ethical compliance prior to large-scale adoption.

The platform will also serve as a knowledge-sharing and governance hub, promoting best practices in health AI development and implementation, with strong safeguards for patient data protection and algorithmic accountability.

BODH (Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI), developed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in collaboration with the National Health Authority, will enable systematic evaluation of AI models using diverse, anonymized real-world health datasets.

The platform is designed to assess performance, robustness, bias, and generalizability of AI systems before their deployment at population scale. By institutionalizing benchmarking standards, BODH aims to ensure that AI solutions are reliable, clinically relevant, and aligned with national public health priorities.

The launch of SAHI and BODH at the AI India Summit reflects India’s forward-looking vision of integrating digital innovation with public health priorities. These initiatives will foster responsible innovation while reinforcing trust in AI-enabled healthcare solutions.

The event witnessed the participation of senior officials from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, representatives from premier academic institutions, healthcare professionals, AI innovators, and industry stakeholders.

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