RODHS 2025 Opens in New Delhi, Showcases Asia’s Push for Digital Health Equity

The inaugural session underscored the urgency of collaborative governance and interoperable platforms to build resilient health systems.

The Regional Open Digital Health Summit 2025 (RODHS 2025) opened on 19 November in New Delhi, bringing together a powerful coalition of government leaders, international health bodies, technology innovators, and digital governance experts from across South-East Asia. Hosted by the National e-Governance Division (NeGD) under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, the National Health Authority (NHA), WHO South-East Asia Regional Office, and UNICEF, the three-day summit has emerged as one of the region’s most influential platforms for discussing the future of digital health ecosystems.

The gathering aims to strengthen regional collaboration on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), open standards, health data exchange, and the responsible adoption of Generative AI, all with a unified goal—accelerating progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

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Setting the Tone: Collaboration, Interoperability, and Digital Equity

The inaugural session underscored the urgency of collaborative governance and interoperable platforms to build resilient health systems.

Breaking Silos for National Digital Health

Shri Rajnish Kumar, COO, NeGD, highlighted the importance of inter-ministerial cooperation, calling for a joint governance model between the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Electronics & IT. He emphasized that seamless coordination is essential to keep national DPI platforms such as ABDM, CoWIN, Aadhaar, and UPI secure and interoperable.

Regional Capacity Building

WHO SEARO’s Mr. Manoj Jhalani stressed that the summit is a catalyst for improving the region’s digital health skills. He noted that interoperability and reliability are essential to ensuring secure, scalable digital health adoption.

Community-Centric Digital Transformation

UNICEF India’s Mr. Arjan de Wagt reminded the audience that digital health must be people-first, focusing on families, children, frontline workers, and vulnerable populations. Technology, he said, must empower—not replace—community needs.

India’s DPI Leadership

Dr. Sunil Kumar Barnwal, CEO, NHA, showcased the transformative power of India’s DPI ecosystem—from Aadhaar to UPI and ABDM—demonstrating how secure, scalable digital public goods can reshape population-scale health systems.

Need for Cross-Sector Digital Integration

Smt Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary, MoHFW, emphasized that health outcomes depend on interconnected systems spanning nutrition, water, sanitation, education and social welfare. She reaffirmed the National Digital Health Blueprint 2019 and National Health Policy 2017 as the foundations for India’s UHC roadmap.

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Plenary Session: Scaling Digital Health with Open Standards and DPI

The plenary session, featuring leaders from NeGD, NHA, UNICEF, and WHO-SEARO, highlighted the shift from pilot projects to large-scale, inclusive digital health systems.

Key insights included:

• Open standards and full-stack frameworks are essential for equitable scaling.

• DPI serves as the backbone of secure, interoperable digital ecosystems.

• India’s CoWIN and ABDM stand as global examples of DPI-driven digital health innovation.

• UNICEF stressed the inclusion of children’s rights and data protection.

Speakers agreed that the Global South’s digital future hinges on collaborative, standards-based platforms that prioritize equity and trust.

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Session 2: Foundational DPI and Health Ecosystems

Experts from WEF, UIDAI, NPCI, ONDC, NeGD, and representatives of Thailand, Maldives, and Nepal explored how core DPIs—identity, payments, registries and data exchange—drive health system resilience.

The panel emphasized:

• DPI should deliver better health outcomes, not just digitization.

• Success must be measured in cost savings, transparency, and empowered citizens.

• Cross-country collaboration is vital for scalable and interoperable DPIs.

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Session 3: FHIR Adoption Across South-East Asia

The third session focused on the adoption of FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) as the global standard for health data exchange. Representatives from HL7 India, CDAC Pune, Swasth Alliance, and health ministries from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka shared their journeys.

The session concluded that:

• Technical standards alone are insufficient—governance and ecosystem collaboration are essential.

• Sustainable FHIR adoption requires workforce training, strong regulatory frameworks and ongoing investments.

• Regional cooperation will accelerate FHIR adoption across South-East Asia.

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Session 4: DPI in the Health Sector – Country Perspectives

Experts from India, Sri Lanka and Thailand presented diverse approaches to building health DPIs. Despite differences in scale and digital maturity, all three nations emphasized:

• Interoperability first

• Patient privacy and data governance

• Equitable access and inclusive design

• Data-driven health policy innovation

The session highlighted how DPI can adapt to local contexts while advancing shared regional goals.

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Session 5: GenAI for Public Health – Opportunities and Cautions

In one of the most anticipated discussions, leaders from India, Nepal, Thailand and international organisations examined how Generative AI can transform healthcare.

Key takeaways:

• Interoperability is fundamental for AI to work in public health.

• GenAI can simplify documentation, improve diagnostics and enable multilingual care.

• Systems must remain equitable, safe, and patient-centric.

• Breaking down programmatic silos is essential to avoid fragmented health delivery.

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Session 6: GenAI Demonstrations – Innovations from India and Beyond

The final session brought live demonstrations of cutting-edge GenAI tools, featuring:

• Sunoh AI’s clinical scribe supporting automated medical documentation

• EkaCare’s Health AI ecosystem for integrated digital health records

• NiramAI’s thermal imaging tech for early breast cancer detection

• Google’s MedJama AI model for advanced clinical support

• IIT Delhi’s diagnostic platform using AI and edge computing

These innovations demonstrated how GenAI can improve efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility in health systems—especially in resource-constrained settings.

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A Strong Start to Regional Digital Health Collaboration

The first day of RODHS 2025 highlighted South-East Asia’s collective commitment to building digital health systems that are interoperable, inclusive, secure, and equitable. Through DPI, open standards, and emerging technologies such as Generative AI, the region is laying the groundwork for resilient health systems and measurable progress toward Universal Health Coverage.

As leaders and innovators continue their discussions over the next two days, the summit is expected to catalyze new partnerships, strengthen digital governance, and shape a shared roadmap for the future of digital health in the Global South.