Lok Sabha Question No. 3564 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-21
Subject: Use of Artificial Intelligence in Public Health System
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Shri Radheshyam Rathiya

## GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No-3564 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2025

## USE OFARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM

## †3564. SHRI RADHESHYAM RATHIYA:

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

(a) whether it is a fact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is being widely used in various parts of the world has been used in the public health system of the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) the sectors in which it is currently being used in the country along with the impact thereof;

(d) whether any comprehensive assessment has been made to find out the sectors where AI can be used in the public health system in the country;

(e) if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the details of the blueprint finalized/being proposed to increase the use of Artificial Intelligence in the country?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) to (f) Yes, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to drive transformative change in public health services across India. Ministry of Health has designated AIIMS Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh and AIIMS Rishikesh as ' Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence ' with an aim to promote development and use of AI based solutions in Health. MoHFW has developed AI solution like Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) in e-Sanjeevani, Media Disease Surveillance Solution in IDSP, Diabetic Retinopathy Identification solution and the Abnormal Chest X-ray Classifier Model and various others are in early stages.

'Media Disease Surveillance' (MDS) is an AI-driven tool that has been supporting eventbased surveillance for infectious diseases since April 2022. This tool scans digital news sources across the country and shares relevant information with districts for early action and response. Since April 2022, it has published over 4,500 event alerts, contributing to the timely prevention and mitigation of disease outbreaks, thereby reducing mortality and morbidity.

The ' Clinical Decision Support System ' (CDSS) AI solution has been integrated into the national telemedicine platform, eSanjeevani, to enhance consultation quality by streamlining patient complaints entry and providing AI-based differential diagnosis recommendations. Since CDSS integration, 196 million eSanjeevani consultations benefitted from standardized data capture, ensuring consistency across health and wellness centres and 12 million consultations have been aided by AI-recommended diagnoses, allowing doctors to make informed decisions.

Under the Tuberculosis elimination program, ' Cough against TB ' AI solution is used for screening for pulmonary TB in the community settings. In the deployed geographies, the solution has shown an additional yield of 12-16% in TB reported, which may have been missed if patients were screened using conventional methods. The ' Prediction of Adverse TB Outcomes AI Solution ' helps in predicting TB patients who have a high chance for going for adverse outcomes as soon as the patient is initiated on treatment. 27% decline in adverse outcomes is reported after deployment of the AI Solution. As highlighted above sectoral specific measures for enhancing use of AI in health care are duly being taken.

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