Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced groundbreaking plans to implement advanced AI technology at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) during the 2nd Postgraduate Research Conference held at the JPMC auditorium on Friday.
Speaking at the event, CM Shah highlighted that this initiative would be the first of its kind outside the US, deploying advanced AI technology to create predictive algorithms tailored to the local Pakistani population and disease patterns. “For this purpose, the Sindh government, in collaboration with the Patient Aids Foundation, has partnered with the world-renowned firm PAXERA to install PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) and AI technologies at JPMC, currently utilized at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Harvard Medical School’s Mass General Hospital in the USA,” he said.
He further revealed that the provincial government plans to provide open access to these AI models to other institutions, particularly in rural areas, enabling less experienced doctors to achieve the same level of diagnostic accuracy as JPMC using AI.
During the event, CM Shah also reflected on the improvements since the devolution of JPMC, the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), and the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) from the federal government in 2011. “At that time, their combined bed capacity was 2,092 with a budget of Rs1.9 billion. Today, JPMC alone has increased its bed capacity from 1,185 to 2,208, NICH from 443 to 553, and NICVD from 464 to 1,280 beds. The budget has also been enhanced from Rs1.9 billion to Rs25.75 billion.”
He also mentioned the introduction of advanced technologies such as CyberKnife and Tomo Therapy, provided free of charge.
JPMC Executive Director Prof. Shahid Rasool expressed his gratitude towards the government and the Patient Aids Foundation for their support in making JPMC one of the largest health facilities in Pakistan. Higher Education Commission-Sindh Chairman Prof. Tariq Rafi, Vice Chancellors Prof. Nusrat Shah, Amjad Siraj, Gulshan Memon, and Aga Khan University Health Services-Pakistan CEO Dr. Farhat Abbas also addressed the gathering.