Overview

• At the AI for Good Global Summit on July 11, WHO, ITU and WIPO released a technical brief titled ‘Mapping the application of artificial intelligence in traditional medicine’ under the Global Initiative on AI for Health.
• The document highlights AI applications from Ayurgenomics diagnostics in India to machine-learning models identifying medicinal plants in Ghana and South Africa and AI analysis of compounds treating blood disorders in South Korea.
• It urges governments to uphold Indigenous Data Sovereignty and free, prior and informed consent by adopting community-led data governance models pioneered in Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
• Stakeholders are called to invest in inclusive AI ecosystems, develop national legal frameworks, build digital literacy among traditional medicine practitioners and establish global standards for data quality and ethical AI use.
• India’s Ministry of Ayush reaffirmed its leadership with platforms like SAHI, NAMASTE and the Ayush Research Portal and announced plans to align with the roadmap’s policy and capacity-building recommendations.