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Can AI become a public health equaliser for India?
This article is authored by Priyadarshi Mohapatra, founder & CEO, CureBay.
India's health care landscape has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade. Landmark initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), and the rapid expansion of telemedicine have laid the foundation for a more accessible, connected and inclusive health care system. The progress is undeniable. The next challenge is ensuring these gains translate into equitable access to quality primary health care for every Indian. With nearly 65% of the country's population living in rural areas, the next phase of this transformation must focus on reaching every village and every family.
This is where the conversation around Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes truly significant. AI is often associated with cutting-edge hospitals and advanced urban health care. But its greatest opportunity may lie in helping bridge India's last-mile health care divide.
India has roughly 1.3 doctors for every 1,000 people, well below the WHO benchmark of 4.45. Closing this gap through workforce expansion and healthcare infrastructure alone will take time. AI offers an opportunity to extend the reach of existing health care systems today.
Working alongside trained community health workers, AI can help identify health risks earlier, prioritise patients who need medical attention, and equip doctors with better clinical information before consultations take place. It is not about replacing medical expertise. It is about enabling health care professionals to focus their expertise where it is needed most while extending quality care to communities that have historically remained underserved.
The true promise of AI is not that it replaces doctors. It is that it helps doctors reach more people.
But technology alone has never solved a health care challenge.
A screening that leads nowhere is not care. An AI alert without access to diagnostics, medicines or follow-up treatment changes very little. Public health succeeds only when every part of the care journey works together.
The real opportunity lies in embedding AI within a continuum of care rather than treating it as a standalone tool. Community health workers build trust. Digital health records ensure continuity. Teleconsultation connects patients with specialists. Affordable diagnostics, timely access to medicines and consistent follow-up ensure that a diagnosis translates into treatment. AI becomes transformative only when it strengthens this broader health care ecosystem rather than operating in isolation.
Equally important is prevention. India's health care system has traditionally focused on treating illness after symptoms appear. AI enables a shift towards early detection, helping identify risks before they become medical emergencies. That transition from reactive treatment to preventive care has the potential to improve health outcomes while reducing the long-term burden on families and the health care system alike.
For rural India, this shift could be transformative. Early screening, timely intervention and continuous follow-up can prevent manageable conditions from becoming life-threatening simply because care arrived too late.
India is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. The country's evolving digital health ecosystem, including the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission's consent-based architecture, reflects a thoughtful effort to encourage innovation while strengthening safeguards around patient privacy, data security and patient safety.
Public trust will determine AI's success in health care. People need confidence that AI supports health care professionals rather than replaces them, that their data remains secure, and that technology ultimately leads to better care rather than simply generating more data. When innovation is backed by trust, adoption follows.
AI can indeed become a public health equaliser for India, but only if it is designed around people rather than algorithms.
The future of health care will not be shaped by technology alone. It will be defined by how effectively we combine AI with trusted community health workers, robust digital infrastructure and affordable primary care to ensure that quality health care reaches every village and every family.
India has the policy momentum, the digital foundation and the technological capability to make this vision a reality. The true promise of AI is not simply making health care smarter. It is making health care more accessible, equitable and preventive. If India can achieve that, the last mile will no longer remain the country's greatest healthcare challenge. It will become one of its greatest public health successes.
(The views expressed are personal)
This article is authored by Priyadarshi Mohapatra, founder & CEO, CureBay.
