Ayushman Bharat Coverage Expands To Delhi, Odisha; AI-Powered Reforms Boost Public Healthcare In 2025

The year 2025 saw the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme expanding its footprint to Odisha and Delhi, growth in digital healthcare delivery and the fight against TB gaining more steam, with the government focusing on deepening the use of new-age technologies like AI in the public health delivery.

Even though the Covid pandemic is almost obscure in public memory, there was a rise in cases in June fuelled by a surge in cases in parts of Asia including Singapore and Hong Kong, but the trajectory soon saw a downward trend thereby ensuring there was no flare up of panic. Most of the cases remained mild in nature, not requiring hospitalisation and resolved on their own.

Riding on the government's push for enhanced digital health service, India made major strides towards ensuring specialised healthcare reached the grassroots.

The eSanjeevani telemedicine service emerged as a catalyst in digital health service redefining how citizens access medical care. More than 43.2 crore free tele-consultations were provided, ensuring access to specialist doctors in rural and remote areas. Of the beneficiaries, 57 per cent were women.

In 2025, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) got much more acceptance with a lot of citizens readily storing their medical records digitally and sharing them with doctors whenever needed. According to government data, more than 84.35 crore health accounts (ABHA accounts) have been created so far with 12.09 crore being created this year till December 26.

Also, 80.66 crore health records were linked with ABHA so far with 35.52 crore health records linked this year.

The government's flagship health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) saw a major expansion this year with Delhi and Odisha signing the MoU with the health ministry for its implementation. With this, only West Bengal remains outside the ambit of this universal healthcare coverage provided by the Centre.

As of December 1, approximately 42.48 crore Ayushman cards were created since the inception of the scheme in 2018 and a total of 10.98 crore hospital admissions amounting to Rs 1.60 lakh crore have been authorised under the scheme so far.

The health ministry's initiative, launch in October last year, to expand the scope of the scheme by providing free treatment benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh per year to all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their socio-economic status, through Ayushman Vay Vandana cards gained momentum in 2025 with 94,19,515 people being enrolled under it so far.

An Android-based 'Ayushman app' was launched by National Health Authority wherein self-verification feature for beneficiaries has been enabled. The app was developed using the latest technology and provides different modes of authentication i.e. face-auth, OTP, IRIS, and fingerprint for Ayushman card creation. This ensures that any mobile device can be used for Ayushman card creation.

Under the TB-Free India campaign, testing, treatment, and nutritional support were further strengthened. India's journey towards tuberculosis (TB) elimination was recognised globally with the WHO's Global TB Report 2025 released this year highlighting that the incidence rate of TB in India has shown a 21 per cent decline from 237 per 100,000 population in 2015 to 187 per 100,000 population in 2024.

India's commitment to end-TB related deaths has been appreciated and the Global TB Report 2025 documents that TB deaths reduced by 25 per cent from 28 per lakh population in 2015 to 21 per lakh population in 2024. Access to TB treatment and coverage in India increased in last nine years, from 53 per cent in 2015 to 92 per cent in 2024.

The overall notification of TB cases has improved by 63 per cent over the last 10 years, from 2014 to 2024. The missing TB cases had reduced from 10 lakhs in 2015 to less than 1 lakh in 2024.

India notified 24.2 lakh TB cases in 2022 which was higher than the pre-Covid level of 2019. In 2023, a total of 25.52 lakh and in 2024, 26.18 lakh TB patients have been notified. In 2025 (January to October), 22.64 lakh TB patients have been notified.

The 100 Days TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyan that was launched on December 7, 2024 in 347 high priority districts across 33 states and Union territories was expanded to cover all districts of the country. The campaign was implemented using 'whole of government approach' and encapsulated the whole of society approach by involving all the stakeholders.

The health ministry also launched a comprehensive AI-driven healthcare reform to strengthen India's public health system. Central to this initiative was establishment of three centres of excellence for AI in healthcare at AIIMS Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh, and AIIMS Rishikesh.

A collaborative ecosystem has been developed with key organisations, such as the Central Tuberculosis Division, National Centre for Disease Control, CDAC-Mohali, ICMR, MeitY, Ministry of Higher Education, and Indian Institute of Science. Further technical support is provided by Wadhwani Institute of Artificial Intelligence.

These efforts have led to successful implementation of AI tools such as the Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) integrated with e-Sanjeevani, a media disease surveillance tool under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, and AI-based diabetic retinopathy screening. To support the fight against tuberculosis, various AI tools have been introduced.

"These AI solutions have delivered measurable impact," an official said.