New Delhi, Jan 28(PTI) National Health Authority (NHA) CEO Dr Sunil Kumar Barnwal on Wednesday highlighted how Artificial Intelligence can be used to strengthen India's healthcare infrastructure, noting
that India needs to focus on leveraging digital data infrastructure to build AI solutions.
He was speaking at the fourth edition of the Health of India Summit 2026, hosted by DataLEADS and FirstCheck in partnership with the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare.
With a central theme of 'Building a Healthier India with AI', the Health of India Summit 2026 opened with a keynote address from Barnwal focusing on reimagining healthcare in the age of AI.
The event brought together senior government officials, public health experts, and artificial intelligence innovators.
"We all know the way AI will change healthcare delivery. It will change the way the patient gets treatment, the way doctors perform the clinical case, and improve the capacity of the health profession and the workdays," Bernwal said, adding that much of their non-clinical work can be taken care of by AI.
"Similarly, we are looking at AI as a big opportunity for building the capacity of frontline health workers, and ASHA workers can actually segregate a chronic patient from a normal patient. They can ensure and make sure of some kind of early detection of a severe disease which may be likely to have," he added.
The Health of India Summit was recognised as the official pre-summit event of the upcoming India AI Impact Summit 2026, a flagship initiative led by the Government of India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the IndiaAI Mission to advance safe, responsible, and inclusive AI innovation.
The IndiaAI Impact Summit will be held in the national capital between February 16 and 20. This will be the first global artificial intelligence summit hosted in the Global South.
Barnwal also focused on creating Indian datasets so that AI solutions can be tailored to predict diseases in the Indian context.
He also announced that the National AI strategy for health will be launched during the India AI Impact Summit, and this will set the path for the responsible use of AI.
Dr Rajesh Ranjan, HOD, Epidemiology, National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, said, "India stands at the cusp of an AI-driven healthcare transformation. AI is no longer a choice but a necessity, empowering clinicians, expanding access, and enabling predictive care. With strong digital public infrastructure and ethical use, India can lead the world in human-centric, equitable healthcare."
Diverse Panel Discussions: The agenda, featured nine specialised panels covering -- AI The New Frontier In Preventive and Predictive Healthcare, Bridging the Digital Divide - Presented by Global Health Strategies, AI-Driven Healthcare Transformation in India, the Role of AI in Health Information Pathways - Presented by Deutsche Welle, AI Applications For Innovation in Drug Discovery, the Pharmaceutical and MedTech Industry and AI in Medical Education: Preparing Doctors for the Future.
Speaking at the event, Syed Nazakat, CEO and founder, DataLEADS, said, "It is a proud moment for us to partner with the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare and host this important national AI summit."
"India is entering the frontier phase of digital health, where advanced AI models, population-scale data, and public digital infrastructure converge. The Health of India Summit 2026 is a platform to move from pilots to a planetary scale. By aligning policymakers, frontier technologists, and clinicians, we are building a conversation about building an AI-native health system that is real-time, predictive, and interoperable, capable of serving a billion people with precision, trust, and speed," he added.
The Health of India Summit moved beyond dialogue and culminated in a strategic MoU between DataLEADS' AI initiative ADiRA (AI for Digital Readiness and Advancement) and Ujala Cygnus Hospital to train and upskill healthcare professionals for AI readiness.
The MoU was signed by Dr Sabba Mehmood, Co-founder and Director, DataLEADS and First Check, and Dr Vandana Chawla, Vice-President of Academic and Research, Ujala Cygnus Healthcare Services.
The ADiRA is an initiative to build an AI-ready workforce in India, supported by the AI Opportunity Fund: Asia-Pacific by AVPN, with support from Google.org and the Asian Development Bank.
The summit also hosted AI innovators, including representatives from Samsung Health and NeuroDX, who presented groundbreaking technologies currently transforming clinical practice.
The Health of India Summit 2026 was supported by a coalition of partners, with Global Health Strategies leading as the title partner. The National e-Governance Division (NeGD under the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), BMJ Group, and SocioScript served as the knowledge partners, Deutsche Welle and PTI joined as media partners, and Wadhwani Foundation as the industry partner.
Additionally, TiE Delhi and Healthcare Sector Skill Council supported the summit, with Samsung and RAFFTTAR AI featuring as exhibiting partners, alongside other key industry stakeholders. PTI PLB MPL
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