NHA Explores Collaboration with UAE on Digital Health & Healthcare AI

The discussion was intended to provide a platform to exchange perspectives on responsible health data use, AI validation and benchmarking, and potential collaboration on evidence-based digital health solutions.

The National Health Authority (NHA) has recently held discussions with UAE health officials to explore potential areas of collaboration in digital health, health data research, and healthcare artificial intelligence (AI).

Dr. Sunil Kumar Barnwal, CEO, NHA, accompanied by Soumya Gupta, Consular, Economics and Commerce at the Embassy of India in Abu Dhabi, met H.E. Safeya Abdulazeez Al Maqtari, Acting Secretary-General and Chief Operating Officer of the UAE Integrative Medicine Council.

The delegation also met Dr. Khuloud Abdulla Al-Dhalei, Executive Director of the International Patient Care Sector at the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, to discuss potential areas of cooperation in digital health and healthcare innovation.

The discussions focused on health data-driven research through Secure Data Environments (SDEs), guidance for healthcare AI deployment under India's Strategy for AI in Healthcare (SAHI), and AI validation and benchmarking through the Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI (BODH).

The delegation also explored opportunities to deepen understanding and use of health data, including genomic data, within Malaffi, Abu Dhabi's Health Information Exchange.

The discussion was intended to provide a platform to exchange perspectives on responsible health data use, AI validation and benchmarking, and potential collaboration on evidence-based digital health solutions.

The discussions centred on areas where India's digital health initiatives and the UAE's healthcare data infrastructure could support

The discussion follows NHA CEO Dr Sunil Barnwal’s participation at a recent event in Abu Dhabi, where he addressed India’s experience in using health data to inform healthcare decisions.

In addition, he underscored the role of PM-JAY claims data in understanding treatment patterns, healthcare costs and patient mobility, as well as the potential of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to improve the use of linked health records.

Dr. Barnwal also emphasised the need for strong data governance, sustainable financing for digital public infrastructure, and workforce capacity building.

He further highlighted the role of public-private collaboration and shared digital platforms, including the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX) and Unified Health Interface (UHI), in strengthening digital health systems.

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