Dr Garth Graham, Director and Head of YouTube Health: Pandemic sharply demonstrated the degree to which information and communication impact health outcomes

YouTube recently announced new initiatives to enhance access to reliable health information in India. Building on existing features like health source information panels and content shelves, the platform will now allow registered healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, mental health experts, and health information providers, to apply to have their channels featured in health-related searches. This move aims to combat health misinformation and provide users with accurate, expert-verified content. Eligible healthcare professionals must adhere to guidelines from the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, the National Academy of Medicine, and the World Health Organization.
Additionally, YouTube is collaborating with healthcare institutions to create and promote authoritative content in multiple Indian languages, covering a wide range of physical and mental health conditions. On the occasion, Dr Garth Graham, Director and Head of YouTube Health, shared views on YouTube’s latest initiative in the field of health, challenges in India and more …
India has made significant strides in integrating digital and AI technologies into its healthcare ecosystem. How would you assess the impact of digital health innovations?
India’s commitment to digital health innovation is truly inspiring. The rapid adoption of digital and AI technologies, particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic and through the development of a national health stack, has significantly increased access to health information online. This has created unprecedented opportunities for people to find answers to their health questions and learn from experts, paving the way for a more informed and empowered patient population.
Digital video platforms like YouTube play a crucial role in this transformation by offering a readily accessible, engaging, and easily understandable format for sharing vital health information, overcoming language barriers and literacy challenges. In 2023 alone, YouTube saw over 6 million health-related video uploads; had more than 75 billion views on health content in India, underscoring its significant role in the digital health landscape.
YouTube is actively working to improve the quality and equity of health information by partnering with leading healthcare institutions in India to create authoritative content, developing features that highlight credible sources, and expanding eligibility for health creators to participate in these initiatives.
As digital health content grows, how is YouTube ensuring the accuracy and scientific basis of health information shared on its platform?
Pandemic sharply demonstrated the degree to which information and communication impact health outcomes. And, online sources have become an important resource for questions about our health. YouTube is already a part of a patient’s journey, with people all over the world using YouTube to explore and find answers to all kinds of health questions, and seek opportunities to learn from health experts who have developed the skills to connect at scale with engaging and helpful information.
Effective communication is at the heart of improving people’s health, and we want to provide equitable access to authoritative health information. That is why, a few years ago, we rolled out two product features to help people more easily navigate and evaluate health information. This includes health source information panels on videos that help viewers identify videos from authoritative sources and health content shelves that highlight videos from these sources. These features have been available to accredited health organisations including AIIMS, NIMHANS, Apollo Hospitals and Max Healthcare among others.
Now, we’re building on that work by opening up applications for registered doctors, nurses, mental health professionals, and health information providers to make their channels eligible for our health product features.
Given India’s linguistic diversity and varying literacy levels, what is YouTube doing to make health information accessible to people from different regions and language backgrounds?
Over the last few years, we supported leading health organizations like Apollo Hospitals and Max Healthcare to create authoritative health content. And, we’re now expanding our efforts to support more healthcare institutions to create and amplify authoritative content, covering more than 140+ conditions including physical and mental health, across Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Bengali, Malayalam, Punjabi and English.
Moreover, our multi-language audio feature is helping viewers across India’s diverse linguistic landscape find trusted health content in their preferred language by toggling between various language options.
How does YouTube foresee the future development of video-based healthcare education in India in the coming years?
As more Indians come online, digital video offers the first handshake to the world, with the ability to overcome language barriers and present even complex information in simple, easy to understand formats. This is particularly valuable in India, where language diversity and varying literacy levels can sometimes pose challenges to accessing health information.