‘The World has much to learn from India’: Norway eyes closer digital health partnership

NEW DELHI: Norway’s Health and Care Services Minister Jan Christian Vestre has said his government is eager to align its health-sector priorities with India’s rapidly advancing digital health ecosystem, describing India’s achievements in digital infrastructure, population-scale service delivery, and artificial intelligence as “nothing short of incredible.”

In an interview, Vestre underscored that both countries share a vision of leveraging digitalisation as a core enabler of equitable healthcare access — a principle that sits at the heart of Indian initiatives such as Ayushman Bharat, the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), and the Make in India strategy for health-sector innovation.

Calling India’s digital transformation “a global benchmark,” Vestre praised the country’s ability to build a comprehensive digital public infrastructure that delivers services seamlessly to more than a billion people.

“Countries around the world have taken notice of how India has built a fully digital public infrastructure,” he said. “Digitizing services and bringing them seamlessly to people at population scale — the biggest in the world — is nothing short of incredible. The world, including Norway, has so much to learn from your approach.”

He highlighted India’s early use of AI-driven language models to break linguistic barriers in healthcare delivery as an innovation that resonates closely with Norway’s own priorities. “Norway is investing heavily not only in AI research but also in how we can democratize the benefits of AI,” Vestre noted. “As Health Minister, I am particularly interested in how we can use AI to accelerate diagnostics, treatments and patient care.”

Vestre also praised the long-standing collaboration between the two countries on digital public goods — an area that has garnered global attention as India expands these tools into new sectors and technologies.

“India’s approach of making digital public goods globally accessible is something we deeply appreciate,” he said, adding that Norway looks forward to shaping the next phase of cooperation with a strong digital focus.

Vestre’s trip, which included meetings with Health Minister J.P. Nadda and participation in the Bengaluru Tech Summit, marked a renewed push to elevate the India-Norway health partnership following the entry into force of the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) on 1 October.

He described the meeting with Nadda as “a point of departure” for fresh explorations in health cooperation, particularly in areas shaped by evolving disease burdens, climate impacts, demographic change, and rapid technological advancement.

“I always cherish my visits to India,” Vestre said, recalling his earlier involvement in finalising TEPA during his tenure as Minister of Trade and Industry. “This trip was full of testaments that Norway and India not only have a strong partnership, but also a strong friendship.”

While specific areas of joint work will be developed by technical teams from both sides, Vestre reiterated Norway’s strong support for universal health coverage and primary healthcare — priorities shared across G20 forums and the World Health Organization, where Norway currently serves on the Executive Board.

Looking ahead 5-10 years, Vestre said he hopes the India-Norway partnership will continue to “prosper and grow stronger,” particularly as new technologies reshape global health delivery.

“Despite our differences in size, our nations have much to offer each other,” he said. “As we move forward, I hope we may leverage our strengths and opportunities for a shared commitment to global health and innovative and sustainable development of health services.” (ANI)