Lok Sabha Question No. 283 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-12
Subject: Artificial Intelligence in Public Health System
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Aparajita Sarangi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 283 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 12 TH JULY , 2019 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGE NCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM

## *283. SHRIMATI APARAJITA SARANGI:

Will  the  Minister  of  HEALTH  AND  FAMILY  WELFARE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a)  whether  Artificial  Intelligence  (AI)  which  is  being  widely  used  in  d parts of the world, is being used in public health system in the coun ry;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the areas in which it is currently in the country along with its impact;
- (c) whether there has been a comprehensive assessment of the areas in whic can  be  used  in  public  health  management  in the  country  and  if  so,  the  details thereof; and
- (d) the details of the road map finalized/being prepared for expanding the u AI in the country?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

- (a) to ( d):  A statement is laid on the Table of the House

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 283* FOR 12 TH JULY , 2019

(a)  &  (b) The  potential  of  Artificial  Intelligence  (AI)  in  public  health  i explored  in  our  country.  Ministry  of  Health &  Family  Welfare  (MoHFW)  is working towards using AI in a safe and effective way in public health in Indi

Few of the initiatives undertaken by Government of India (GoI) to use AI in health are:

- Imaging  Biobank  for  Cancer:  NITI  Aayog with  Department  of  Bio -Technology (DBT) aims to build database of cancer related radiology a pathology images of more than 20,000 profiles of cancer patients with f on major cancers prevalent in India, along with the associated annota and label s from clinical data for effective use of AI in cancer managemen
- NITI  Aayog  is  working  on  using  AI  for  early  detection  of  diabet retinopathy. Integrating AI capabilities with portable eye screening using  retinal  imaging  APIs  enables  operators  t o  get  AI - powered  insights even when they are working at eye check - up camps in remote areas with nil or intermittent connectivity to the cloud to detect diabetic retinopath
- DBT has issued call for pre - proposals  on  use of  AI  in  the  area  of cancer biology,tuberculosis  &  pulmonary  diseases,  diabetes  &  cardiovascula disease, ophthalmological diseases, genetic and rare disorders, neurol disorders and methods/drug development.
- DBT is also in process of integrating the knowledge and resources gener t hrough various multi - institutional projects, cohort studies, bio - repo itories, bio - banks, clinical trials etc. This knowledge/ datasets will be foundat application of AI tools.

(c) The  use  of  Artificial  Intelligence  in  Public  Health  is  being  exami ned  for making  it  more  effective  and  accessible.  AI  solutions  can  augment  the  s personnel  and  lab  facilities;  help  overcome  the  barriers  to  access  throug detection, diagnosis and treatment.

The potential areas for AI implementation in public he alth management includes -

- a) Tele -radiology
- b) Tele - ophthalmology
- c) Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS)

## d) Natural Language Processing (NLP) for health data

- e) Disease surveillance
- f) Tele - medicine
- g) Early detection of diseases
- h) Health data analytics
- i) Remote monitori ng through wearables -particularly for elderly care/special cases
- j) Research in bio - technology
- k) Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY):
8. i.Reducing fraud and abuse in Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM -JAY) ecosystem viz. fraud and abuse by empanelled hospitals, insurance agencies, third party administrators etc.
- ii. Preserving privacy of personal information of PM - JAY beneficiaries.

(d) To address the gaps in India's AI ecosystem and realise its economic impact, Government of India has prioritized building our AI technology capabilities.

NITI  Aayog,  after  extensive  consultation  with  various  ministries  and  le academicians, institutions, practitioners and industry players, has release ia's National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in June 2018. Through the stra subsequent  initiatives,  the  following  key  recommendations  in  AI  are  b pursued:

- Promoting  Research  Ecosystem:  building  research  capability  in  bot fundamental  and applied  areas  of  AI  technology,  ensuring  large  scale  A computing  facility  for  students,  researchers,  start - ups  and  government organizations.
- Accelerating adoption: Government to play the leading role in adopting
- Skilling: focus on skilling and reskill ing, to enable job creation and provide resources for research ecosystem.
- AI for All Global Alliance: collaboration with countries focused on res in areas prioritized by India.

Government's interventions will include supporting partnerships, providing access to infrastructure, fostering innovation through research and creating the de seeking solutions for addressing various governmental needs.

Access to structured data sets and similar infrastructural tools are esse -requisites  for  deve loping  India's  AI  capabilities.  NITI  Aayog  is  accordingly developing a framework for publishing government data.

NITI  Aayog  is  currently  in  the  process  of  developing  the  institut mechanism,  funding  framework  and  other  such  steps  to  realise  India's  AI aspirations.

The real power of Artificial Intelligence is built on the standardized data the input for AI programs to generate results. However, the deficient or im and non - standardized data could potentially be threatening in life savin g situations where the dependency on AI tools is high. Therefore, the prime objectives o Ministry is to ensure that data available for AI tools is standardized & th and security of patient's data is maintained for AI processing. Towards the above, MoHFW has also taken following steps:

- Notified  Electronic  Health  Record  (EHR)  standards  2016  for  diseas classification, medicine and clinical terminology, laboratory data exc digital Imaging and communication etc. for interoperability, with a vision to provide necessary guidelines for both public and private entities.
- Since the privacy and security of patient data is of paramount importan health service delivery, MeitY is in process of finalizing the Data & P Protection  Act,  which would  be  applicable  in  all  domains  including healthcare. This Act would provide the framework for Ministry to utiliz patient data in programmes in a secured manner.
- MoHFW  is  in  process  of  finalizing  a  National  Digital  Health  Bluepr (NDHB) proposinga federated architecture, which will allow the creation longitudinal  health  record  of  a  patient  resulting  in  accurate  dia precision medicine, increased quality of care, timely response in emerg lower out of pocket expenses, avoiding repeate d diagnostics and continuum of care across all levels.

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