The government, through the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance, has pledged to continue supporting the Makerere Artificial Intelligence (AI) Health Lab as it offers solutions to pressing health challenges through cutting-edge technology.
The commitment was resounded by the Permanent Secretary to the ministry, Dr. Amina Zawedde, while launching the first AI in Health Africa conference on Thursday, November 28, 2024, at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, where she highlighted opportunities offered by the digital age in inventing health solutions.
“The digital age offers us more opportunities, so we should all embrace it and support innovations with health solutions. As a ministry, we are in support and are fully behind this and support having more innovations for a better health system in Uganda,” Zawedde said.
She thanked the innovators for coming up with different innovations that offer efficient solutions to health problems in Uganda.
“For us to improve health care, we need to integrate AI to come up with efficient solutions. Your groundbreaking work on challenges like malaria, cancer, and TB is immense, and we appreciate such innovations,” Zawedde added.
She also acknowledged the government for creating an enabling environment for AI innovators in health to thrive and further asked able partners to come on board to support the innovations.
“As a ministry, we believe that government plays a big role in creating an enabling environment and enhancing partnerships with different experts, the private sector, and civil society. As government, our role is to establish good working relationships, and we have done that, so we call upon partners to embrace the AI innovations in health,” Zawedde noted.
Timothy Byekwaso, an ICT consultant and member of the ICT Association of Uganda, noted that for AI innovations to evolve, there must be good collaboration between stakeholders and the need for government as a key player to have in place the needed infrastructures.
“For innovators to thrive in ICT and AI, there is a need to have fast, reliable, and affordable Internet, a good policy on data protection and cybersecurity, and good collaborations between the key stakeholders,” Byekwaso said.
The Makerere AI Health Lab is currently running the Ocular project, which has an automated mobile microscopy solution for diagnosing malaria, tuberculosis, and cervical cancer.
The lab’s mission is to drive innovation in AI research to effectively address and overcome pressing health challenges.
