RIYADH – The Saudi Ministry of Health and the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority jointly launched a prototype of an AI-powered early breast cancer detection program.
The program was announced during a panel discussion on the second day of the Global AI Summit, held by SDAIA under the patronage of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, at King Abdulaziz Conference Center in Riyadh from the 13th through the 15th of September.
At the panel discussion, Assistant Minister of Health Dr. Mohammed Abdulali mentioned the Royal Directives to care for the health of Saudis and expatriates as a national priority of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
He also gave an overview of the continued development of the Kingdom’s healthcare sector and how digital transformation greatly uprated the quality of health services.
The Deputy Minister of Health underlined the significance of AI across transformation projects in the national healthcare sector and in the support of health and preventive programs and healthcare operations in general.
He pointed out that early breast cancer detection powered by AI algorithms would help raise diagnosis quality, minimize the possibility of errors, and increase the capabilities of physicians, ultimately increasing the numbers of breast cancer checks among the target segment and greatly increasing the possibility of early detection and, in turn, complete recovery.
Dr. Abdulali gave a presentation about the important role that the Center of Excellence for AI in Health is playing in collaboration with SDAIA and the strategic partnership to develop AI that serves multiple facets of healthcare.
The center, he explained, would support national AI and data research as part of broader medical and biotechnology research, as well as increasing local content through partnerships and joint development, deployment, and sharing of advanced technologies for the benefit of the healthcare sector.
He said that the center would help refine and upgrade the skills of talented young nationals and give them the academic and professional skills they need to fill labor shortages and compete on data- and AI-related jobs and fields of study.
Dr. Majed Altuwaijri, Chief Executive Officer of the National Center for AI, said that SDAIA aims to bolster the Kingdom’s leadership position in every facet of data and AI with a multitude of joint initiatives and programs with many partners in government agencies.
“We are moving along swiftly to achieve the goal and meet the aspirations of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Chairman of SDAIA, with a focus on government integration for better growth and the accomplishment of Vision 2030 targets,” he said.
He further underlined the role of the Ministry of Health and the Seha Virtual Hospital in increasing the quality of healthcare, hoping that the Center of Excellence for AI in Health would add to the Kingdom’s impressive efforts to keep Saudis and expatriates safe and healthy.