Artificial Intelligence is developing rapidly and is expected to have a big impact. Its use in the health sector can have multiple positive effects and be a useful tool for the scientific community, she said during her welcome at the official presentation of the Opinion of the National Bioethics and Technoethics Committee on the “applications of Artificial Intelligence in Health in Greece”, the Deputy Minister of Health Irini Agapidakis.

As he said, artificial intelligence can be used for diagnosis / early prognosis, treatment options, the overall assessment of the needs of each individual patient, involving the entire organization of Health systems. Mrs. Agapidaki estimated that in the future artificial intelligence will play an even more decisive role in the creation of new medicines. The key word here is time, he said and continued: Artificial intelligence will save us from time-consuming procedures, which are critical especially in emergency situations. In such cases, for example, artificial intelligence could be seen as a lifesaver, it will allow us to gain significant time, giving us effective, immediate solutions, saving lives, he emphasized.

She noted that in the context of digital health, government expands telemedicine project, so as to “cover every corner of the country, our islands, mountainous and rural areas”.

The deputy minister announced that in conjunction with the telemedicine network and the Individual Electronic Health File, “a service with wearables will be activated which will record daily heart beats and a series of other biometric data of citizens, in order to ensure the best regulation of chronic cardiovascular diseases and the timely transition of the patient to the hospital. At the same time, the use of telemedicine will also be extended to EODY, where it will help us to better manage diseases, especially regarding pandemics of infectious diseases.”

In the near future, Ms. Agapidaki concluded, technology in general will be an ally in the effort “for a precision and non-time-consuming medicine. Artificial intelligence is a tool with enormous potential and can play a decisive role in the health sector, however, let’s keep in mind that it cannot replace the human factor at all, but work to facilitate us”.