CMC organises symposium on health data, AI

Joy Mammen, head of Biomedical Informatics Unit atCMC and other officials participating the symposium

The 14th annual symposium on health data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) was organised by the Biomedical Informatics Unit (BMIU) of Christian Medical College (CMC) at its campus in Vellore.
 
According to a press release, the aim of the symposium, which was supported by Council of Accredited Health Organizations (CAHO), was to increase awareness among the healthcare community, encourage collaborative conversations and provide a safe environment for exploring this rapidly advancing area.

In his inaugural address, Karthik Adapa, Regional Advisor, Digital Health, WHO (Southeast Asia), emphasised the need for collaborative work between healthcare providers, industry and academia. He used a breast cancer screening project in Punjab, recently published in the prestigious Nature journal this year, to illustrate the power of these new tools and their applications. He also spoke about the need for implementation of health data standards and interoperability of health data so that data is available for researchers and developers to benefit citizens.

In his video statement, Amandeep Singh Gill, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies, emphasised the importance of data governance and the need for confidentiality and privacy of patient data while maintaining interoperability.

Issues related to the recent developments in AI and health were dealt with during the symposium. Several scientific posters and presentations were made, providing an opportunity for around 600 participants to gain insight on it.
 
On the occasion, Joy Mammen, head, BMIU, Vinoy David, deputy, director, CMC, John C Oommen, vice chairperson, CMC, Solomon Sathishkumar, principal, CMC and Vijay Agarwal, president, CAHO, the release said.