Nadda Introduces SAHI Roadmap, BODH Testing Platform for Health AI

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda on Tuesday launched two national initiatives—SAHI and BODH—aimed at establishing a comprehensive regulatory and evaluation framework for the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the minister stressed that AI adoption in the health sector must remain ethical, transparent, accountable, and people-centric.

The initiatives were unveiled at Bharat Mandapam, where Nadda described SAHI, or Secure AI for Health Initiative, as a national roadmap for the responsible development and deployment of AI tools. The framework sets out governance guardrails, data stewardship norms, validation standards, and monitoring mechanisms across hospitals, pharmaceuticals, public health programmes, and digital health systems.

“SAHI is not merely a technology strategy. It is a governance framework and a national roadmap for the responsible use of AI in healthcare,” Nadda said, adding that AI should assist doctors and health workers rather than replace them. He reiterated that robust digital infrastructure and high-quality data are essential for safe AI integration into clinical settings.

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Alongside SAHI, the minister launched BODH—the Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI—developed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in collaboration with the National Health Authority. The platform is designed to test and validate AI models using anonymised real-world health datasets, assessing performance, bias, robustness, and generalisability without exposing patient data.

Dr Catharina Boehme of the World Health Organization South-East Asia Regional Office welcomed the move, noting that India is among the first countries to adopt a national AI strategy for healthcare. She said innovation must strengthen health systems, expand access, and build trust, describing the initiative as reflecting a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach.

Linking the effort to India’s broader digital push, Nadda said the Digital India programme laid the groundwork for strong digital infrastructure, while the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has created a scalable digital public architecture for healthcare. He emphasised that consent-based data frameworks are being developed to protect privacy while empowering citizens.

Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava said SAHI represents a long-term policy commitment and provides a common framework for the Centre, states, and private stakeholders. She added that BODH will ensure AI tools used by clinicians are rigorously validated against real-world parameters before large-scale deployment.

The launch of SAHI and BODH marks a significant step in creating a national governance and testing ecosystem for responsible AI adoption in India’s healthcare sector as the country expands its digital public infrastructure.

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