The three-day Regional Open Digital Health Summit 2025 which was held in New Delhi has highlighted the need for sustainable financing, regional collaboration, and AI-enabled governance. The Ministry of Electronic and IT, in a statement, said that the summit collectively conveyed a unified message that digital health transformation is not merely a technological upgrade but a fundamental journey requiring standards, governance, interoperability, and deep inclusion. Addressing the last day of the event, Additional Secretary, in the Ministry, Abhishek Singh today called for building a safe, inclusive, and globally relevant AI-enabled health system.
During the summit, a sustainable financing model also emerged as a critical prerequisite for digital health transformation, especially in the face of shrinking fiscal space, rising health costs, and declining global aid flows. Along with this India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Thailand, and Timor-Leste listed common challenges like fragmented financing channels, donor dependence, and insufficient long-term budgeting. In the concluding session of the summit, Regional Advisor for Digital Health, World Health Organization-South-East Asia Regional Office, Dr Karthik Adapa, highlighted essential components of a robust digital health system including Digital Public Infrastructures, applications, governance, and capacity building.
