India Moves to Integrate Traditional Medicine with AI

According to JP Nadda, artificial intelligence is now being positioned as a catalyst for mainstreaming traditional medicine by strengthening research, standardisation, and clinical validation.

India has outlined a renewed vision to integrate traditional medicine with artificial intelligence, signalling a strategic move toward holistic and digitally driven healthcare.

Speaking at the WHO Global Summit on Traditional Medicine, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said the country has moved beyond a purely curative health model and is now embedding AI-enabled traditional medicine within a broader framework focused on prevention, wellness, and integrated care.

He explained that the revised approach places equal importance on prevention, promotion of health, curative services, geriatric care, and integrative medicine.

“In the policy, we have to think of it holistically; prevention, promotion of health, curative, geriatric, and with that, PM Modi thought of integrative medicine. Integrate yourself, do not work in silos,” he said, highlighting how digital platforms and AI-based repositories are enabling countries to share evidence and clinical experiences in traditional medicine.

According to Nadda, artificial intelligence is now being positioned as a catalyst for mainstreaming traditional medicine by strengthening research, standardisation, and clinical validation.

“Under this, we have taken a pioneering step by integrating artificial intelligence with traditional medicine. On its own, this will give a big push to traditional medicine when we connect those two,” he said, adding that AI can support data-driven insights, evidence generation, and global collaboration in traditional healthcare systems.

India has already taken steps to integrate traditional medicine with modern healthcare delivery. AYUSH centres and dedicated AYUSH blocks have been established in several AIIMS institutions, while Centres for Integrative Medicine are working to bridge traditional practices with modern medical science.

“We have joined AYUSH with modern medicine, made AYUSH blocks in All India Medical Sciences (AIIMS). We are also bringing forward Centre for Integrative Medicine, so that we can join traditional medicine with modern science, for the benefit of humanity,” Nadda noted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the closing ceremony and launched multiple initiatives aimed at strengthening the global footprint of India’s traditional medicine ecosystem.

These included the My Ayush Integrated Services Portal, designed to digitally connect AYUSH services, and the Ayush Mark, positioned as a global quality benchmark.

He also released a WHO technical report on Yoga training, a book chronicling 11 years of transformation in the Ayush sector, and a commemorative stamp on Ashwagandha, underscoring India’s ambition to align traditional medicine, AI, and global digital health standards.

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