From organ donation to medical tests: UAE launches AI centre to revolutionise healthcare

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has launched the UAE’s first Centre of Excellence (COE) for Artificial Intelligence, which aims to promote the digitalisation of health data, employ smart technologies to develop health capacities and offerings and establish a comprehensive digital service ecosystem providing service users with sustainable, innovative, high-quality services.

The launch announcement was made at GITEX Global 2023, where the ministry is presenting a package of digital products and up-to-date technical systems and solutions to meet current and future health needs and solidify its position as a key leader in the government’s digital transformation.

Benefit of the AI centre

Licensing medical facilities: Using AI to facilitate location selection for hospitals and medical centres by providing analytic results to investors before they apply for medical facility licenses.

Support doctors: The centre will also support doctors to secure necessary licenses based on national needs.

Organ donation: There will also be an organ donation and transplant centre to match donors and patients through test results, helping to facilitate organ transplants and prioritise critical cases both within and outside the country.

Medical scans and tests: AI will also be used to analyse the results of radiological scans, increasing the efficiency of diagnoses.

Manage stock of medicines: The COE will also manage the nation’s strategic stock of medicines using AI to link databases and analyse usage to establish needs-based distribution strategies.

Shipment of medicines: It will track the shipment of medicines from the country of manufacture all the way to the patient, with additional linkage to other national systems.

Analyse data of birth and death: COE will enhance the analysis of birth and mortality data, which will help to analyse causes of death and related data better. This function will play an important role in managing the Ministry’s crisis, emergency, and disaster centre.

Data security: The centre will assist in data security control and big data analysis, which will contribute to strengthening the cybersecurity of the ministry’s network.

The COE was assigned Emirati cadres to manage its advanced technology in collaboration with data analytics experts from SAS, which will cover eight fields of expertise.

Ahmad Ali Al Dashti, assistant undersecretary for the Ministry’s Support Services Sector, said that the centre is one part of the ministry’s vision to develop digital services by applying the latest service technologies, among them AI, big data, and cloud computing.

“The establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence is the fruit of a joint venture between MoHAP and SAS, a leader in the field of data analysis and AI, in line with the leadership vision to leverage the latest technological innovations, using big data for predictive analysis of information and more effective decision-making,” said Al Dashti.

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