New Delhi

Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Tuesday reaffirmed India’s commitment to universal health coverage, digital healthcare innovation and global health cooperation while addressing the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva.

In a post on X, Nadda said India is rapidly strengthening access to affordable and quality healthcare through a “whole-of-government” and “whole-of-society” approach aimed at expanding healthcare services across the country.

Highlighting the progress made under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, he said the initiative has significantly enhanced India’s digital healthcare ecosystem with more than 880 million unique digital health IDs, enabling integrated and seamless healthcare services.

Nadda also stressed the importance of ethical and inclusive deployment of artificial intelligence in healthcare. He said the future of AI should be built around human-centric systems that ensure trust, inclusivity and equitable healthcare delivery worldwide.

Addressing the assembly, the minister underlined the expansion of healthcare infrastructure under the Ayushman Bharat initiative. He noted that India has established around 1.85 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs to strengthen primary healthcare services nationwide.

Speaking about India’s digital healthcare transformation, Nadda said the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission is helping create longitudinal health records and ensuring continuity of care through a robust digital health network.

The minister also recalled India’s support to the global community during the COVID-19 pandemic through the Vaccine Maitri initiative. He said India supplied nearly 300 million vaccine doses to around 100 countries during the pandemic period.

On the sidelines of the World Health Assembly, Nadda held bilateral meetings with health ministers from Nepal, Bhutan and Kenya to discuss cooperation in areas including telemedicine, digital health, mental healthcare, pharmaceuticals, capacity building and skill development of healthcare professionals.

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He said the discussions focused on strengthening collaboration to ensure affordable and quality healthcare services for all.