Abuja:Dr. Kunle Kakanfo, CEO of the Africa Hub for Innovation and Development (AHFID), has highlighted the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to lower out-of-pocket health expenses and improve healthcare access in Nigeria. Speaking at a media conference in Abuja ahead of the AI in Health Summit, Kakanfo emphasized AI’s role in increasing healthcare efficiency and expanding coverage.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Kakanfo noted that AI could expedite health insurance claims processing, aiding Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs) in expanding their services. He mentioned that AI-assisted documentation could also enhance the capacity of primary health care centers to treat more patients efficiently.
Kakanfo pointed out that a significant portion of Nigerians, over 70%, currently pay for healthcare out of their own pockets. He suggested that AI could help reduce this financial burden by automating verification processes, allowing HMOs to recover payments more swiftly and broaden their service offerings.
The potential of AI to address Nigeria’s health workforce challenges was also discussed, with Kakanfo referencing the World Health Organization’s statistic of approximately 3.8 doctors per 1,000 people in the country. This, coupled with the emigration of many medical graduates, underscores the need for AI to support existing healthcare workers without replacing them.
Kakanfo stressed the importance of governance and safety in AI deployment, advocating for human oversight in AI applications. He called for the government to ensure AI tools are rigorously tested and validated for patient safety before being used.
The upcoming AI in Health Summit will showcase innovations, including a locally trained cervical cancer screening tool, and facilitate discussions on data sovereignty and the ethical use of AI in healthcare. Dr. Abiola Oshunniyi from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention highlighted the need for incorporating AI components into national health legislation and developing pathways for scaling locally produced health technologies.
Ms. Liss Yori, Technology Law Counsel for the summit, emphasized the centrality of patient needs and data protection in AI deployment. The summit aims to foster responsible AI use in healthcare, ensuring that applications are safe and ethically developed.