by By Amboni
Surgeons in Rwanda are open to integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into their practices, but they stress that AI will serve as an additional tool to enhance their work, rather than replacing their expertise. Professor Faustin Ntirenganya, President of the Rwanda Surgical Society, shared with The New Times that while AI already plays an important role in healthcare, particularly in diagnostics, it must be used with caution and under careful supervision to ensure patient safety.
He emphasized that the responsibility always rests with the surgeon, saying, “You can’t say, ‘AI told me to do this.’ It’s similar to when I use a knife; I can’t say the knife made me cut here.” In Rwanda’s medical field, AI is still in the early stages of development and is primarily used for diagnostic purposes. For example, in radiology, AI tools are already helping doctors in analyzing medical images and identifying diseases. Professor Ntirenganya believes AI has great potential, but he maintains that it is just a tool meant to support surgeons, helping them perform their tasks more effectively or more efficiently.
Worldwide, AI is becoming more prevalent in healthcare, especially in diagnostic areas. In the UK, for example, AI is being used to streamline the process for cataract surgeries. An AI-driven system called Dora, developed in Oxford, reaches out to patients to gather information and determine who needs to see a clinician, reducing waiting times from 35 weeks in January 2024 to under 10 weeks by 2025.
Professor Ntirenganya pointed out that while surgeons are generally open to new technology—given that the history of surgery has always involved new tools—they are cautious and evaluate each advancement to ensure it provides genuine value.
One of the significant concerns is how patients will perceive AI’s role in medical procedures. Healthcare professionals argue that AI should remain behind the scenes, supporting doctors in their work rather than being directly involved in patient interactions. Allyn Auslander, associate vice president of research at Project Smile, expressed a similar viewpoint, emphasizing that AI should be a tool for healthcare providers, not for patients. She compared AI’s use to other behind-the-scenes processes in diagnostics, such as white blood cell counts in laboratories, which patients never see but which inform their diagnosis.
Dr. Papa Kwesi Fiifi-Yankson, a Ghanaian plastic surgeon and educator, also sees AI’s value in surgical training, especially through virtual reality simulations that allow students and trainees to practice and refine their skills.
In Rwanda, the application of technology in healthcare is especially important due to the country’s ongoing challenges. With a shortage of surgeons, medical staff, and infrastructure, many patients face long delays for surgical procedures. Rwanda currently has only 162 surgeons, while it would need approximately 1,400 to meet international standards. Additionally, the country has only about 0.9 surgical theatres per 100,000 people, far below the recommended 6.2. Furthermore, surgeons are disproportionately concentrated in Kigali, with 46% working in tertiary hospitals and 28% in private hospitals.
Source: The New times, Syndicate
