Maternal and childcare is one of India’s key health priorities. FOGSI will help integrate digital technologies into maternal and childcare.
Gynaecologists in India are set to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance women’s health and bring down the country’s maternal mortality rate, currently at 88 deaths per 100,000 live births. On Saturday, the Federation of Obstetric & Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI), representing over 45,000 members, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Koita Foundation to establish a Centre for Digital Maternal Care.
FOGSI President Dr Sunita Tandulwadkar said, “The new centre will provide clinicians with training and support to integrate digital tools into their practice.”
With more than half of FOGSI members owning nursing homes, the centre will collect health data from patients to detect patterns and trends. FOGSI past President Dr Jaydeep Tank noted, “There are too many variables in pregnancy that affect a woman’s health. By gathering information on a large number of pregnant women over the years, we will be able to stratify risks more accurately.” This will enable doctors to identify risk factors early and implement timely interventions to save lives.
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Rizwan Koita of the Koita Foundation added, “Maternal and childcare is one of India’s key health priorities. We will help integrate digital technologies into maternal and childcare.” The foundation is already running AI projects in cancer and diabetes care with the Tata Memorial Centre and the Research Society for the Study of Diabetes in India.
FOGSI incoming President Dr Bhaskar Pal highlighted that only 20% of FOGSI members have digitised their practice. He stressed, “While AI cannot replace doctors, doctors who don’t use AI in the next five years will be replaced.”