Kenyan Health Delegation Visits NHA to Study India’s Digital Health and Insurance Models

A high-level delegation from the Government of Kenya, led by Dr. Gregory Ganda, County Minister for Health, Kisumu County, visited the National Health Authority (NHA) in New Delhi today for an extensive knowledge exchange on India's digital health infrastructure and government-funded health insurance programmes.

The delegation brought together senior officials representing both Kenya's national health leadership and county-level health administration, highlighting Kenya's growing focus on strengthening health systems through technology, universal health coverage reforms and scalable public health financing.

Showcasing India's Flagship Health Innovations

The visiting team was received by Dr. Sunil Kumar Barnwal, Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority, along with senior NHA officials, who provided detailed briefings on two of India's most transformative health initiatives:

• Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) – the world's largest government-funded health assurance scheme

• Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) – India's national digital health ecosystem built on the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) model

The exchange forms part of a broader push for South-South cooperation, where developing nations share policy frameworks and digital public goods to accelerate citizen-centric governance.

PM-JAY: Accountability Through Technology at Scale

Discussions on PM-JAY focused on how India has leveraged advanced technology to embed transparency, accountability and fraud control into public health insurance delivery.

Key areas highlighted included:

• Aadhaar-authenticated beneficiary verification• Digital pre-authorisation systems reducing approval turnaround times• Hospital risk profiling and automated claims monitoring• Technology-driven accountability for empanelled providers

NHA officials outlined the scheme's multi-layered anti-fraud framework, which uses:

• Machine learning tools

• Image analytics

• Deep learning systems

This framework operates across a network of more than 33,000 empanelled hospitals nationwide, drawing strong interest from the Kenyan delegation as Kenya explores ways to strengthen governance in insurance-linked care delivery.

Since its launch in 2018, PM-JAY has enabled:

• Over 11.6 crore (116 million) hospital admissions

• Treatment worth more than ₹1.67 lakh crore (approximately $18 billion)

• Coverage targeted at India's most vulnerable populations

Delegates also engaged with India's federal implementation model, which balances national oversight with state-level flexibility — a structure particularly relevant for Kenya's devolved county health system.

ABDM: Building a Consent-Based Digital Health Ecosystem

On Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, discussions examined India's pioneering use of Digital Public Infrastructure to create an interoperable, consent-governed health data architecture spanning:

• Government health programmes• Private hospitals• Diagnostic laboratories• Frontline health workers

ABDM enables a federated and patient-owned longitudinal health record, accessible across care settings while ensuring data privacy and consent-driven exchange.

Officials shared key milestones of the platform:

• Over 860 million ABHA health IDs created• 882 million electronic health records linked

Both sides identified drug logistics and utilisation tracking as a promising area for deeper collaboration, given its potential to improve:

• Supply chain governance

• Rational drug use

• System-wide accountability in pharmaceutical delivery

Strengthening South-South Collaboration

Speaking during the interaction, Dr. Barnwal emphasised the value of shared learning between Global South partners.

"We are pleased to share our experiences with our Kenyan partners and believe that this South-South collaboration will contribute meaningfully to their efforts in building citizen-centric health systems," he said.

The visit reaffirmed a shared commitment to co-designing scalable solutions with the private sector, lowering cost barriers through shared digital public goods, and advancing technology-enabled universal health coverage.

Both India and Kenya agreed that the engagement will inform a collaborative pathway toward building resilient, inclusive and future-ready health systems driven by digital innovation and citizen-first governance.