The National Health Authority of India and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, will collaborate to develop an open testbed for validating AI models.
These organizations recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to apply data to improve public health outcomes.
IIT Kanpur will build a platform for publicly verifiable performance benchmarks based on data available from Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM). It will be used to validate AI models for disease quantification and diagnosis.
The university will also create a database to prevent statistical data mining, machine learning models, and a consent management system for researchers, all of which will later be transferred to the NHA for operation and maintenance.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT
Health Minister Apurva Chandra highlighted the lack of data available to validate AI models in India.
“[O]One of the biggest challenges facing AI models in the healthcare sector is the availability and effectiveness of disease diagnostic data, which this collaboration will address.”
The benchmarking platform being developed will provide researchers with access to high-quality data and a forum for collaboration with others in the health ecosystem. It will also address “all aspects” of data privacy, added LS Changsan, additional secretary of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
“[T]“Its partnership with NHA will help democratise access to quality healthcare in India,” Manindra Agrawal, professor and director, IIT Kanpur, also commented.
BIGGER TREND
NHA, which manages ABDM, a nationwide programme launched in 2021 to build the foundation of India’s digital healthcare ecosystem, aims to leverage publicly available health and healthcare data to develop digital technologies.
ABDM consists of three main blocks: Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA), Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Health Facility Registry numbers. The public dashboard was created in 2022 and provides real-time numerical data for each block.
An improved database of registered doctors in the country was recently launched. The recent The National Medical Register, established under the National Medical Commission Act 2019, will be part of the ABDM under the HPR.