In a strong endorsement of India's pioneering digital health vision, the World HealthOrganisation (WHO), in partnership with the International TelecommunicationUnion (ITU), has published a landmark technical brief named "Mapping theApplication of Artificial intelligence in Traditional Medicine." The paper not only laysthe groundwork for Al-integrated traditional medicine systems worldwide but alsogives India's Ayush sector the spotlight as a global leader in this field.
The WHO book represents the very first international roadmap to map how Al can beused responsibly to advance, modernise and globalise traditional medicine systemslike Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Sowa-Rigpa, and Homoeopathy. Notably, it recognisesIndia's leadership in science, highlighting various indigenous innovations rangingfrom predictive diagnosis to genomic-based herbal drug research that aretransforming healthcare.

India's Digital Ayush Vision: “Al for All" in Traditional Medicine
Spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of “Al for All" and supportedby the Ministry of Ayush, India has taken rapid strides in marrying millennia-oldhealing practices with cutting-edge Al applications. The brief credits India as the firstcountry to launch a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), which is amultilingual repository designed to safeguard and digitise indigenous medicalknowledge and prevent biopiracy, This effort now serves as a global model.

Union Minister of State for Ayush and Health, Shri Prataprao jadhav, welcomed theWHO recognition, stating, “india's Al-led initiatives reflect our deep commitment toscientific validation and internationalisation of traditional medicine. This is theembodiment of PM Modi ji's call to integrate emerging technologies for inclusivehealth development.

Ayurgenomics and Predictive Care: India at the Cutting Edge
One of the key highlights of the WHO report is India's Ayurgenomics program, whichis a pioneering interdisciplinary project that merges Ayurveda's Prakriti-basedconstitution typing with genomics and machine learning. The goal is to createpersonalised, preventive health solutions based on genomic markers associated withclassical Ayurvedic categories.
Through processing big data and NLP, artificial intelligence (Al) algorithms are nowbeing applied to develop diagnostic tools such as pulse diagnosis, tongue diagnosis,and even voice patterns. These are methods traditionally applied in traditionalsystems but now reenvisioned through technology.

SAHI, NAMASTE and Ayush Grid: India's Digital Backbone for Traditional Medicine
The WHO update applauds India's Ayush Grid, which was introduced in 2018, as anall-encompassing digital backbone underpinning citizen-facing applications such asthe SAH portal, NAMASTE platform, and Ayush Research Portal. The systems provideAI-driven clinical decision support and guarantee interoperable and evidence-baseddigital health records, online consultations, and Ayush-related research publications.
The SAHI platform has played a key role in promoting patient-specific diagnosticdevices by combining Ayurvedic diagnostics with contemporary Al tools, making itpossible for healthcare providers to provide individualised treatment regimens evenin rural or underserved regions.

Herb ldentification to Al-Supported Formulations
India's efforts on Al-assisted medicinal plant identification, herb-basedpharmacological data digitisation, and in-silico drug design are also referred to aspath-breaking, Methods like deep learning models, artificial tongues for flavourprofiling, and network pharmacology are now being employed to comprehend andadvance formulations based on classical systems.
For instance, the Ayurgenomics platform is being used to decipher the genomic andmolecular underpinnings of herbal medicines so that traditional medicines can berepurposed for the treatment of contemporary diseases.
Furthermore, Al is also being utilised to discover drug interaction pathwaysthroughout Ayurveda, Unani, TCM, and Kampo to provide comparative therapeuticknowledge that was not possible before.

AI and Indigenous Data Sovereignty
The WHO report commends India's efforts not only for their scientific integrity butalso for their ethicality. With the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) andIndigenous Data Sovereignty models, India has focused on ethical data sharing.community consent, and safeguarding cultural heritage.
The nation's policy and legal systems are seen to facilitate the deployment of Al in aresponsible manner, making sure that traditional knowledge is equitably utilised andnot taken advantage of by business stakeholders. India's contribution to the WIPOTreaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated TraditionalKnowledge also reiterates the country as the custodian of world heritage.

Ayush Sector's Economic lmpact: USD 43.4 Billion and Rising
In addition to the technological and ethical benchmarks, the WHO brief recognisesthe economic value of the Ayush industry, With a market size estimated at USD 43.4billion, expanding each year by 10 to 20 percent, the traditional medicine economy ofIndia stands as a significant pillar in the health innovation of the world.
"From enhancing biodiversity-linked livelihoods to promoting holistic well-beingAyush systems are now at the core of India's health and development approach,stated Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush.