ICMR releases ethical guidelines for AI usage in healthcare

Source: The post is based on the article “ICMR releases ethical guidelines for AI usage in healthcare” published in The Hindu on 25^th March 2023.

What is the news?

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has released the country’s first “Ethical Guidelines for Application of Artificial Intelligence in Biomedical Research and Healthcare”.

About the Guidelines

The guidelines include sections on ethical principles, guiding principles for stakeholders, an ethics review process, governance of AI use, and informed consent.

It is intended for all stakeholders involved in research on AI in biomedical research and healthcare, including creators, developers, researchers, clinicians, ethics committees, institutions, sponsors, and funding organizations.

Aim: at creating “an ethics framework which can assist in the development, deployment, and adoption of AI-based solutions” in Biomedical Research and Healthcare.

It also aims to make AI-assisted platforms available for the benefit of common people with safety and highest precision. Also, addressing emerging ethical challenges to AI in biomedical research and healthcare delivery.

Committee: As per the guidelines, the ethical review process for AI in health comes under the domain of the ethics committee.

Why were guidelines needed?

There were ethical concerns with the deployment of AI-based solutions in healthcare such as data safety, data sharing, and data privacy.

Therefore, it was important to have processes that discuss accountability in case of errors.

What are other laws in which AI is integrated in healthcare?

India already offers streamlining of AI technologies in healthcare through the National Health Policy (NHP) 2017, National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB 2019) and Digital Information Security in Healthcare Act (2018).