India launches SAHI & BODH for responsible AI in healthcare

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda, on 17 February, 2026 during the India AI Impact Summit-2026 launched two new digital health initiatives — SAHI (Strategy AI for Health Initiative) and BODH (Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI).

• SAHI is the strategy of AI for Health Initiative, and it has been described not just as a technology strategy but as a governance framework, policy compass and national roadmap for the responsible use of AI in healthcare.
• Meanwhile, through collaboration between the government and academia, BODH — Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI — has been developed, which provides a structured system for testing and validating AI solutions before large-scale deployment.
• The National Health Policy, 2017 had envisioned creating a large digital health ecosystem that would be interoperable, inclusive and scalable.
• Taking this vision forward, the government launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in 2020 to build a robust digital public architecture for healthcare.
• In 2015, under the leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, the government launched the Digital India program to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (SAHI)

• SAHI is a national guidance framework that helps in safe, ethical, evidence-based and inclusive adoption of Artificial Intelligence in India’s healthcare system.
• Its objective is to provide strategic direction on governance, data stewardship, validation, deployment and monitoring of AI solutions, while helping states and institutions adopt responsibly in alignment with public health priorities.

Benchmarking Open Data Platform (BODH)

• BODH, developed by Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in collaboration with the National Health Authority, is a privacy-preserving benchmarking platform that helps in rigorous evaluation of AI models using diverse, real-world health data without sharing internal datasets.
• As a digital public good under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, it has been designed to strengthen trust, transparency and quality assurance in health AI deployment.
• SAHI and BODH together are an important step in India’s journey to build a robust, responsible and globally competitive health AI ecosystem.

About India AI Impact Summit 2026

• It is being organized from 16-20 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, which is the largest global AI summit so far. This five-day program is based on the principles of ‘People, Planet and Progress’, aiming to promote responsible and inclusive AI development.