The Informatics and Smart Health Department at the Dubai Health Authority has launched the first Artificial Intelligence Policy for healthcare in Dubai.

The policy is in line with the vision of the UAE Strategy for Artificial Intelligence that intends to achieve the UAE Centennial 2071 objectives, boost government performance, and invest in AI adoption.

The AI policy for the health sector in Dubai aims to determine regulatory requirements for the provision of artificial intelligence solutions in field of healthcare; it determines the ethical requirements for artificial intelligence solutions as well as defines the main roles and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in the development and use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.

The policy has an in-depth legislative and regulatory framework for the use of artificial intelligence solutions in the field of health and research and aims to enhance the level of interaction, communication and cooperation between government health agencies, the private sector and the scientific community on the applications of artificial intelligence to contribute to accelerating the development of health services.

The scope of this policy extends to include all artificial intelligence solutions related to healthcare services used by medical facilities, specialists, drug manufacturers, health insurance companies, public health centres and researchers within the jurisdiction of the Dubai Health Authority.

Dr. Mohammad Al Redha, Director of Health Informatics and Smart Health Department at the Dubai Health Authority said that the term artificial intelligence refers to systems or devices that simulate human intelligence to perform tasks with the use of data that is collated through AI.

Dr Al Redha said that artificial intelligence in healthcare includes the use of artificial intelligence robots to perform surgery faster and assist the surgeon more efficiently; it also includes the use of artificial intelligence to analyse important health information from a large set of data.

Dr Al Redha explained that artificial intelligence is more about the ability to think and analyze data more than it is related to a specific form or function.

He added that AI aims to enhance human capabilities and contributions, making it a valuable business asset.

Dr Al Redha said: “Artificial intelligence is a cornerstone in the growth plans of the health sector in the UAE, especially as it offers broad prospects for the development of current sectors, in addition to paving the way for a large and new set of business models and innovative technologies.”

He stressed that the policy will benefit all healthcare stakeholders, the overall health sector as well as patients.

Dr Al Redha added that the policy is in line with the authority’s commitment to advance the growth of the health sector and employ artificial intelligence for the benefit of patients and society.”

Dr. Mahira Abdel Rahman, Information and Smart Health Policy Officer at the DHA said: “Through this policy, we seek to benefit from the capabilities of artificial intelligence to ensure smart management, work with high efficiency and enhance productivity in the health field.”

She added, “The policy has been formulated according to best clinical practices and emerging research. The policy mandates that all AI solutions for healthcare comply with the international and federal information laws, regulations and guidelines of the UAE and Dubai, especially with regard to human values, patient privacy, people’s rights and professional ethics, in the long and short term.”

She highlighted that the policy also focusses on the need for AI healthcare solutions to be safe, secure and subject to supervision and monitoring by professional users to ensure technology is used to empower the health sector and patients.