India making best investments with Ayushman Bharat, Future Health Districts programmes: Report

Davos, Jan 19 (IANS) India is making best investments in the health sector by strengthening Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) and initiating the Future Health Districts programmes, according to experts during the World Economic Forum 2026 (WEF) Annual Meeting.

While the ABDM, launched in September 2021, is the government's flagship initiative to create a unified, national digital health ecosystem, the Future Health Districts project has been launched as a collaboration between the WEF and India. It serves as a testing ground for the ABDM.

Under the ABDM programme, more than 850 million citizens in India hold ABHA digital IDs, with approximately 454,000 health facilities and 767,000 professionals registered to date. More than 842 million digital records in the country have also been linked.

“ABDM’s sandbox model enables any health facility, insurer, laboratory, or digital provider to integrate once and seamlessly connect with every other ABDM-enabled entity,” said experts Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, and Shyam Bishen, Head, Centre for Health and Healthcare and Member of the Executive Committee, WEF.

The experts noted that custom API integrations, including vendor fees, manpower time, testing effort, and leadership oversight, can typically cost at least $2,500 each.

But, with ABDM, “one certified integration replaces multiple bespoke interfaces, and the system-wide savings can instead strengthen clinical care, cybersecurity, and citizen engagement”.

The same approach used in large public or private hospital networks, diagnostic chains, and integrated care systems has significantly helped “reduce IT duplication and long-term maintenance costs”.

The experts noted that “investing in interoperable systems, preventive care, and digital capacity” can yield real and rising returns.

They argued that the upcoming Future Health Districts project under the India Pathfinder initiative is another best investment that India is making.

The project “aims to test ABDM-aligned, outcome-linked models in collaboration with state governments and partners,” the report said.

"Over three to five years, it will work to improve indicators such as screening rates, maternal-health follow-ups, and claims-processing times. Each district that succeeds becomes proof of what investable digital health can deliver," it added.

The report also flagged major disparities such as gaps in health coverage, financing pressures, and system inefficiencies in the country.

“These highlight the need to redirect resources toward high-return investments -- particularly digital infrastructure, prevention, and interoperable systems,” stated the experts.

They recommended reframing health as a crucial driver of economic prosperity and national stability; strengthening interoperable digital systems; and channelling philanthropic health funding toward measurable outcomes.

"The lessons emerging from ABDM, Future Health Districts experiments can guide low and middle-income countries seeking scalable, interoperable and affordable solutions," the report said.