AI is meant to augment, Not replace Clinicians: MoS
Published: Feb 18, 2026
By TIOLCorplaws News Service
NEW DELHI, FEB 18, 2026: UNION Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel yesterday participated in a session on the theme “Innovation to Impact: AI as a Public Health Game-Changer” during the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam. The session spotlighted the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence in advancing public health outcomes and strengthening India's healthcare delivery systems.
Addressing policymakers, healthcare leaders, technology experts, researchers, and industry stakeholders while delivering the keynote address, Anupriya Patel, Hon'ble Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, highlighted that “AI for India, as our Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisions, is not merely Artificial Intelligence but All-Inclusive Intelligence.” She emphasized that when India speaks of AI in healthcare, it is not limited to sophisticated algorithms or the promise of precision alone, but is measured by the extent to which technology touches lives and addresses health inequities across the country.
She stated that as India advances towards the vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047, health forms one of the most critical pillars of development. India's vast and diverse population, the rural–urban divide, and the dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases present unique challenges. In such a context, she underscored, technology-particularly AI-becomes an indispensable enabler.
She also noted that AI has been integrated across the entire continuum of healthcare-from disease surveillance and prevention to diagnosis and treatment. She highlighted the Media Disease Surveillance System, an AI-enabled tool that monitors disease trends in as many as 13 languages, generates real-time alerts, and strengthens outbreak preparedness. This system, she said, showcases the power of AI in augmenting India's disease control efforts and enhancing surveillance capacity.
Under the One Health Mission, she further informed that the Indian Council of Medical Research has launched AI-based tools for genomic surveillance, capable of predicting potential zoonotic outbreaks even before transmission from animals to humans occurs. Such predictive capabilities, she emphasized, represent a paradigm shift in preventive public health.
She also highlighted the deployment of AI-enabled handheld X-ray machines and Computer-Aided Detection tools for tuberculosis (CA-TB), which have brought advanced diagnostics closer to communities. These innovations have contributed to approximately 16 percent additional case detection in TB. Furthermore, AI-based tools predicting adverse TB treatment outcomes have helped achieve a 27 percent decline in negative treatment results, strengthening India's fight against tuberculosis.
Emphasizing scalability and affordability, Patel stated that in a large population, resource-constrained setting like India, solutions must be scalable, frugal, and capable of addressing systemic gaps. She noted that the Government has actively worked towards building a strong AI ecosystem in healthcare, including the establishment of three Centres of Excellence for AI at AIIMS Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh, and AIIMS Rishikesh to integrate world-class AI expertise into public healthcare delivery.
Clarifying the role of technology, she asserted that AI is here to augment and assist, not to replace clinicians. By reducing the burden of routine and high-intensity tasks, AI enables doctors to devote more time to complex cases and critical clinical decision-making.
“Medicine is not only a science; it is also an art,” she remarked. Healthcare thrives not merely on algorithms but on human touch, empathy, compassion, and communication-qualities that cannot be replicated by machines and will always remain the domain of clinicians.
Concluding her address, the Minister stressed that future-ready healthcare professionals must be AI-literate. In this regard, she noted that the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences has recently launched an online training programme on AI in healthcare to equip doctors across the country with essential digital competencies, ensuring that India's medical workforce remains prepared for a technology-driven future.
Addressing the summit, Prof. V. K. Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, emphasized that Artificial Intelligence presents a strategic opportunity to transform India's healthcare landscape and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage. He noted that given India's scale, diversity, and dual burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, technology-driven, evidence-based interventions are essential to strengthen service delivery and improve health outcomes.
He highlighted that AI can significantly enhance primary healthcare, enable early diagnosis, strengthen disease surveillance, and support data-driven policy formulation. Integrating AI with India's growing digital public health infrastructure, he stated, will ensure interoperability, real-time analytics, and more efficient resource allocation across the health system.
Prof. Paul further underscored the importance of robust regulatory frameworks, ethical safeguards, and continuous validation to maintain safety and public trust. He called for sustained collaboration between government, academia, and industry to develop scalable, affordable, and indigenous AI solutions capable of delivering measurable impact at population scale.
Speaking at the Occasion, Roy Jakobs, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Philips, stated that AI will have its greatest impact in the field of healthcare. He observed that health systems across the globe are under immense pressure due to rising demand, workforce shortages, and increasing complexity of care, making the integration of AI not just an opportunity but a necessity.
He emphasized that AI alone cannot transform healthcare; it must be supported by robust data governance, seamless data handling, and strong clinical integration. “Technology must align with clinical needs and workflows,” he noted, underlining that meaningful AI deployment requires quality data, interoperability, and clearly defined use cases.
He further stressed that healthcare runs on trust, and therefore AI systems must be transparent, explainable, and continuously validated to maintain clinical confidence and patient safety.
Commending India's digital health initiatives, he noted that programmes such as Ayushman Bharat Yojana are laying the groundwork for interoperable data systems and continuity of care at population scale-precisely the kind of foundation AI requires to deliver meaningful and sustainable impact.
He also remarked that solutions built in India are increasingly being deployed globally, demonstrating that technologies designed for scale, diversity, and complexity tend to be resilient and adaptable worldwide. Reaffirming Royal Philips' commitment to collaborative innovation, Jakobs expressed confidence that partnerships between government and industry will accelerate AI-driven transformation and improve health outcomes globally.
The overall discussion highlighted that Artificial Intelligence is poised to become a transformative force in public health, provided it is deployed responsibly, ethically, and at scale. Speakers collectively emphasized that AI must move beyond pilot projects to system-level integration, supported by interoperable digital infrastructure, quality data, strong regulatory frameworks, and public-private collaboration. The deliberations underscored that while AI can significantly enhance disease surveillance, diagnostics, clinical decision-making, and health system efficiency, it is ultimately a tool to augment-not replace-clinicians. The session concluded with a shared commitment to harness AI as an inclusive, scalable, and patient-centric solution to address India's complex healthcare challenges and to strengthen global health resilience.
