Taking place during the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Week, I was honoured to serve as a panellist for the session Transforming Healthcare Education through AI-Enabled Solutions, convened by Philips, at the UN Science Summit.

It was a privilege to join my distinguished colleagues, Dr Nidhi Leekha of the Aga Khan University, Ari Moskowitz of the Gates Foundation, Desta Lakew of Amref Health Africa, and Matt Rielly of Philips in person, alongside the valued online contributions of Professor Marleen Temmerman of the Aga Khan University and Dr Claude Muvunyi of the Rwanda Biomedical Centre.

AI-enabled ultrasound has demonstrated the ability to reduce midwife training periods from months to days, expand screening capacity for high-risk pregnancies, and empower frontline providers with real-time diagnostic guidance. Within the Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s own programmes, this approach has enabled midwives in Nigeria to deliver improved antenatal screening to more than 96,000 women in a single year, thanks to the support of GE Healthcare and their Vscan technology, combined with structured training and system strengthening. This translates directly into lives saved.

As Philips advances its pledge to improve 2.5 billion lives annually by 2030, including 400 million in underserved communities, and as the Gates Foundation continues to catalyse equitable maternal and newborn health innovation, my the Wellbeing Foundation Africa reaffirms its commitment to championing AI solutions not as temporary pilots but as standards of care. For these tools to realise their full promise, they must be embedded within universal health coverage, underpinned by harmonised regulation, and trusted in the capable hands of midwives and nurses who stand at the frontlines of care.

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