Public sector should lead AI in health, says Brazilian health minister

“ Sand the implementation, the introduction of artificial intelligence in health is led by the public, by the public national system, will reduce inequalities, will bring everyone together, including the private sector ", told journalists the Minister of Health of Brazil, Alexandre Padilha, in a press conference in the context of the international conference "Shaping IA in Health" [Model the AI in health], in Lisbon.

For Alexandre Padilha, if the implementation of artificial intelligence in a country is led by private interests, or by interests of other countries within a country, it will deepen the inequality, distances and reduce the sovereignty of countries.

The Brazilian health minister also warned that an implementation of inaccessible artificial intelligence “is not innovation, it is injustice”, a position supported by the regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) for Europe, Hans Kluge, also present at the press conference.

“ This means that artificial intelligence has to serve everyone, help everyone and that is not yet happening,” Hans Kluge said.

The WHO Director for Europe defended the importance of the conference for knowledge sharing, asking: why should one country make a mistake that another has already resolved?

The Minister of Health of Portugal, Ana Paula Martins, also agreed with Hans Kluge and Alexandre Padilha, warning that illiteracy in the context of artificial intelligence can increase inequalities and promote injustices if not for everyone.

“What we want is for this entire digital agenda in health, where artificial intelligence is included, to be used according to the needs of citizens and to transform their lives. And therefore, the investment will follow this mission or this ambition,” he said, recalling that, through the recovery and resilience plan, more than EUR 400 million was invested in the digital health agenda, from infrastructure to artificial intelligence.

The international conference takes place at a time when Portugal is applying for a geographically decentralized office (GDO) of WHO, dedicated to Artificial Health Intelligence. Asked about this matter, the Health Minister explained that Portugal is not the only candidate, but advanced that if it happens the WHO office will be located in Porto.

The minister pointed out three essential reasons for this application, the main being “the history of work in the digital area and also in artificial intelligence”.

“ We believe it is very important that this office, wherever it may be (...) what is really important is that we are available to create these relations, which are relations between sovereign states, in order to ensure that the agenda of digital transformation and, especially in this case, artificial intelligence, can effectively benefit everyone, not only in Europe, but as we are seeing at this meeting, throughout the world”, he said.

Until Thursday the conference aims to strengthen international cooperation in the ethical, safe, responsible and effective use of artificial intelligence (IA) in health.

The “Shaping IA in Health” conference aims to discuss the role of artificial intelligence in improving health systems and has the participation of government representatives from 37 countries, including health ministers.

Organized by WHO, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health of Portugal, the conference began on Monday, bringing together researchers, health professionals, public organizations and universities from various countries.