VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government is moving ahead with plans to establish a Disease Modeling and Decision Intelligence Centre (DMIDC) at NTR University of Health Sciences in Vijayawada.

The initiative, taken up by the State’s Medical and Health Department in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, aims to harness artificial intelligence for transformative changes in healthcare.

Health Secretary Saurabh Gaur, NTR University Vice-Chancellor Chandrasekhar, R&D Director Suryaprabha, Registrar Sai Sudheer, and senior public health officials discussed the roadmap for DMIDC.

As part of the plan, NTR Health University will soon sign an agreement with the National University of Singapore’s Public Health Department, which already has a collaboration with the Gates Foundation.

This partnership will provide technical expertise to AP and support the rollout of advanced public health initiatives. Officials deliberated on launching a two-year Master’s in Public Health program at NTR University, strengthening research capacity in the State.

The DMIDC will be linked with hospitals across the state to receive continuous updates on communicable and non-communicable diseases. Data will be analysed to provide timely inputs to the government for prevention and intervention. Future expansions will include maternal and child health monitoring.

The state is also preparing to integrate AWARE (Advanced Warning Advisory for Resilient Ecosystem) technology from the Real-Time Governance Society into DMIDC.