TELANGANA - India’s population of well over 1.3 billion is second only to China’s, and with most of its inhabitants living in rural areas. This has caused a wide divide in the nation’s geo-political state and consequently the demand for an effective healthcare system has grown greatly.

Urbanites have always had the luxury of better lifestyle choices, including easier access to healthcare, than India’s countryfolk, whose remote villages and towns rely on outdated medical practices, a situation that must change.

The advent of new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and predictive analysis has helped healthcare industries worldwide to transform their medical sectors with sophisticated practices that help doctors, find cures, and predict the onset of symptoms. Several global tech giants have brought these new technologies to India’s healthcare market to boost its medical infrastructure, including the two world giants, IBM and Microsoft.

New York-based IBM’s supercomputer, Watson, is harnessing AI to bridge the healthcare gap in India. It has embarked on transformative collaborations with a number of major Indian healthcare players looking to reenergize the industry to benefit its citizens. Less than a decade ago, IBM Watson looked at the best solutions for use of AI and other modern technologies to help medical professionals tackle some of the world’s biggest medical challenges. The number of cancer cases in India is estimated to reach the 1.57 million mark by the end of 2025, according to the National Cancer Registry Prog