PASIGHAT, Oct 2: The Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, with technical support from Wadhwani AI, conducted a three-day training on Newborn Anthropometry AI tool (NBA) and Home-Based Newborn Care (HBNC) integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) known as Shishu Mapan application from 29 September to 1 October 2026 spread over three batches across Ruksin, Pasighat and Mebo blocks of East Siang district.

The initiative introduces an AI-enabled application developed by Wadhwani AI to support frontline health workers in monitoring newborns aged 0–42 days. Through a video of approximately 15 to 20 seconds, the application can capture key newborn anthropometric parameters such as weight, length/height, head circumference, chest circumference and mid-upper arm circumference, providing a technology-enabled approach to newborn assessment at the community level.

The initiative also includes a digitised HBNC recording system, enabling ASHAs to record newborn home visits electronically. The integrated platform is expected to simplify documentation, improve the availability of newborn-related data and strengthen monitoring of HBNC services by frontline health workers and programme managers.

The training covered 108 ASHAs and 15 ASHA Facilitators from Ruksin, Pasighat and Mebo blocks, along with district and block-level officials including the District RCH Officer, District ASHA Nodal Officer, District Community Mobilizer and Block Community Mobilizers of East Siang district.

As part of the contextualisation of the AI application for Arunachal Pradesh, field-based model contextualisation was undertaken in Namsai, Papum Pare, East Siang, West Siang and Changlang districts. The exercise was aimed at adapting and validating the application for the population characteristics and field conditions of Arunachal Pradesh. Following successful contextualisation, the NBA-HBNC integrated AI application is being rolled out/scaled up in East Siang and West Siang districts.

With this, the application’s usability, accuracy, feasibility and field-level acceptability will be assessed. Based on the findings and learnings, the initiative is proposed to be extended to other districts across Arunachal Pradesh, marking a significant step towards leveraging digital technology and AI to strengthen newborn care and support ASHAs with efficient, technology-enabled tools. (DIPRO)