Rishi Kumar Sonwal

BRICS 2026 concludes with a bigger question for India’s HealthTech journey: Can the capabilities India has demonstrated at population scale become solutions and partnerships for the wider world? India entered this summit with more than a large healthcare market. It brought one of the world’s largest and most diverse healthcare ecosystems — one where digital health, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, MedTech and AI-enabled solutions are being tested across complex, high-volume and highly varied healthcare settings. The BRICS agenda has now created several pathways to take that experience further. The BRICS Integrated Early Warning System for Mass Infectious Diseases, cooperation on AI and digital tools for health, the BRICS Vaccine R&D Centre, the Compendium on Digital Health Architecture for Continuum of Care, and the BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Mental Health, coordinated by NIMHANS, are examples of institutional mechanisms emerging from this cooperation.  India’s own ...

A policy perspective on India's evolving Medical Value Travel ecosystem. The Uttar Pradesh Government's recent announcement to develop a Regional Medical Hub at Jewar marks an important step towards strengthening India's Medical Value Travel (MVT) ecosystem. The initiative aligns well with the Union Government's Budget 2026 vision of developing five Medical Value Travel hubs across the country, recognising healthcare not only as a public service but also as a strategic economic sector. MVT: Where India Stands? India's healthcare ecosystem is already gaining global recognition. According to Government of India data, over 5.07 lakh foreign nationals visited India specifically for medical treatment in 2025, accounting for nearly 5.5% of all foreign tourist arrivals. The global Medical Value Travel market, valued at around USD 115.6 billion in 2022, is projected to reach approximately USD 286 billion by 2030. India today attracts patients from Bangladesh, Nepal, Iraq, U...

After weeks of protests at Jantar Mantar, disruptions during the Monsoon Session, and an intense national debate over examination reforms, Parliament on Tuesday (July 28) finally began discussing the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Amendment Bill, 2026. Unsurprisingly, much of the discussion has centred on strengthening examination security, accountability and preventing paper leaks. Having spent over a decade covering NEET, medical admissions, NMC, NBEMS and higher education policy as an education journalist, I have followed this issue through multiple policy cycles. During those years, I noticed that discussions around paper leaks almost always focused on security, technology and accountability. Rarely did they extend to the economics of medical education itself. Across parliamentary discussions, television debates and expert forums, several constructive suggestions continue to emerge—strengthening examination processes, identifying leak points, improving confidentia...

Research funding has long been at the centre of India's health innovation journey. Recently launched "Draft National Health Research Policy 2026" now offers an opportunity to focus equally on what happens after research is completed. Government's decision to invite public comments that shows a collaborative approach to policy formulation. The draft rightly emphasizes innovation, collaboration, capacity building, digital technologies, and translating research into better health outcomes. However, two aspects deserve equal attention:- One: Research Communication Generating quality research is only one part of the journey. Its true value is realised when research findings are disseminated through credible scientific publications, translated into policy and clinical practice, and made accessible to the wider research community. In my view, India's next research challenge is not merely funding more studies—it is ensuring that every funded study creates measurable scien...

The launch of Aarogya Setu 2.0 marks a significant milestone in India's digital health journey. In many ways, it is perhaps the most comprehensive citizen-centric digital public health initiative undertaken so far. However, there's a challenge as well. From AI-enabled health records and medication reminders to health wallet balance and claims, family profile management, PM-JAY empanelled hospital search, nearby healthcare facilities, ambulance booking, real-time blood availability through e-RaktKosh, and Scan & Share for seamless record sharing, this platform Aarogya Setu 2.0 attempts to bring the healthcare ecosystem together in one place. However, one feature particularly caught my attention—'My Consent'. As digital public infrastructure continues to evolve, technology is no longer the biggest challenge. Public trust is. Health data is deeply personal. Giving citizens complete control over when, how, and with whom their medical information is shared is perhaps the...

In healthcare, reputation is built over years but can come under scrutiny in a matter of minutes. Every day, hospitals deal with anxious families, billing concerns, treatment expectations, communication gaps, and emotionally charged situations. Most are resolved quietly. Some are not. When a complication occurs or a patient casualty happens, the conversation often moves beyond medicine. Questions emerge. Emotions rise. Social media becomes the courtroom, and public perception begins to form long before facts are fully understood. Interestingly, studies examining medical negligence disputes have found that communication gaps, documentation issues, and perceived deficiencies in care often sit at the centre of conflicts between patients and healthcare providers. At such moments, years of branding, visibility campaigns, and reputation-building efforts are put to the test. Healthcare is perhaps one of the few sectors where trust, empathy, communication, and credibility are as important as i...