India’s National Health Authority and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur will collaborate on developing an open benchmarking platform to validate AI models.
The two organizations recently signed a memorandum of understanding to leverage data to improve public health outcomes.
IIT Kanpur will build a platform for publicly verifiable performance benchmarking based on data available under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which will be used to validate AI models for disease quantification and diagnosis.
The university will also build a database to prevent statistical dredging, 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?
Union Health Minister Apurva Chandra highlighted the lack of available data to validate AI models in India.
“One of the biggest challenges associated with AI models in the healthcare sector is the availability and validity of disease diagnostic data, which will be addressed through this collaboration.”
The benchmarking platform being developed will provide researchers with access to high-quality data and a forum to collaborate with others in the health ecosystem, and will ensure “all aspects” of data privacy, added LS Chanthan, secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
“This partnership with NHA will contribute to democratizing access to quality healthcare in India,” said Manindra Agrawal, Professor and Director, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
Larger trends
The NHA, which runs ABDM, a national programme launched in 2021 to lay the foundations for India’s digital health ecosystem, will develop digital technologies leveraging publicly available health and healthcare data.
The ABDM comprises three main blocks – Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) number, Health Practitioner Register (HPR) and Health Facility Register. A public dashboard will be created in 2022 and provide a real-time numerical feed for each block.
Recently, the database of registered doctors in the country has been upgraded. The National Medical Register, created under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, will be part of the ABDM under the HPR.
