Dubai, UAE, January 29, 2019:  The Ministry of Health and Prevention announced that it will utilize Artificial Intelligence technologies in X-ray equipment that are used in medical examinations for residency procedures in the country. This initiative aims to protect members of society from communicable diseases, as well as enhancing the level of healthcare services in order to ensure customer satisfaction.

The announcement took place during the Ministry’s participation in the Arab Health 2019 Exhibition and Conference, which is being held during January 28-31 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

This technology is based on algorithms that employ Artificial Intelligence in X-ray devices to identify communicable diseases through the X-ray films of a patient, which then determines the risk of communicable diseases. The accuracy of this technology is about 98%, with only 2% of cases need to be reviewed by an X-ray specialist. The diagnosis of each case takes about 0.1 seconds instead of the 3 minutes it usually takes during the traditional method of reading X-ray films, which saves up a lot of time and effort.

HE Dr. Hussein Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary for the Health Centers and Clinics Sector at the Ministry of Health and Prevention, clarified that utilizing Artificial Intelligence technologies in radiation devices used in medical examinations that are part of the UAE residency procedures is considered to be an innovative improvement that helps to protect members of society from communicable diseases and speeds up medical examination procedures while also maintaining high accuracy.

Al Rand pointed out that investing in Artificial Intelligence technologies helps to improve healthcare services, accelerate the rate of achievements, and create an innovative and highly-productive environment that works to reduce the rates of communicable diseases. He remarked that the Ministry of Health and Prevention is keen to implement Artificial Intelligence applications in the field of medicine, which reflects the leadership’s aspirations to adopt future technologies.

Al Rand stated that the new system is capable of diagnosing communicable diseases at high efficiency and low costs. He revealed that diagnosis will become simpler and more accurate when utilizing Artificial Intelligence. He added that this project was launched due to the strategic partnership with the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, which is part of the government strategy to speed up the adoption of Artificial Intelligence, enhance the performance of the healthcare system in addressing global health challenges, and provide the best healthcare services that are in line with achieving the UAE's sustainable development goals.

Dr. Al-Rand pointed out that the initial phase of the new system has been launched in medical centres that carry out examinations for residency procedures in the UAE. The system was first implemented at 2 centres in Dubai, which will be followed by the rest of the country during the next phases of the initiative. The new system will reduce government costs that are allocated to healthcare facilities, medical employees, and diagnostic equipment. The system will also reinforce the UAE's efforts in utilizing advanced technologies and Artificial Intelligence to develop innovative services that contribute to improving the standard of living in society.