Prime Highlights:
- Google is funding India-specific Health Foundation Models to help healthcare providers work more efficiently.
- The initiative aims to improve digital public health systems and enhance patient care through better data use.
Key Facts:
- The $400,000 funding will support collaborations using Google’s MedGemma technology tailored to India’s healthcare needs.
- Partnerships with institutions like AIIMS and IISc will develop health models for areas such as dermatology and outpatient care.
Background:
Google has pledged $400,000 to support the development of India’s Health Foundation Model (HFM), a digital public health initiative designed to create interoperable, standardised and AI-ready health data infrastructure for the country.
The funding will support partnerships that use Google’s MedGemma technology to create health models designed for India’s healthcare needs. These models aim to help healthcare providers work better, strengthen digital health systems, and improve patient care by organizing and using health data more effectively.
According to Google, the Health Foundation Model initiative is intended to serve as a foundational layer for India’s public health ecosystem, allowing health data to be securely shared and analysed across platforms while supporting innovation in clinical workflows and population health management.
Harsh Dhand, GenAI, Research, Labs & Core Partnership Lead for Asia-Pacific at Google, said the initiative reflects the company’s focus on responsible and inclusive technology development in India’s healthcare sector. He noted that interoperable and open digital health frameworks are essential for empowering local research, enabling innovation, and improving day-to-day clinical operations.
As part of the programme, Google is partnering with leading academic and clinical institutions. Technology firm Ajna Lens will work alongside experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to develop models focused on India-specific use cases, including dermatology and outpatient triaging. These applications are expected to address high-volume, real-world clinical scenarios commonly seen in Indian hospitals.
In addition, researchers and clinicians at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) will explore broader clinical applications and contribute to strengthening the Health Foundation Model’s datasets and analytical capabilities.
The initiative builds on Google’s recent investments in India’s digital health and artificial intelligence ecosystem. These include multi-million-dollar funding commitments for AI Centres of Excellence, support for responsible AI research, and collaborations aligned with national digital health programmes such as the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM).
Google has also been expanding its work globally on healthcare-focused large language models, open medical datasets, and tools designed to improve diagnostics, clinical documentation and public health surveillance.
Together, these efforts position the Health Foundation Model as a key enabler of India’s next phase of healthcare digitisation, supporting scalable, secure and data-driven health intelligence across both public and private healthcare systems.
