The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Kwara Chapter, has said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) should serve as a complement to human expertise in healthcare and not as a replacement.
Prof. Abdulrahman Afolabi, Chairman of NMA-Kwara, stated this on Monday in Ilorin during a press conference marking the 2025 Physicians’ Week.
The theme of this year’s celebration is “Healthcare as a Value Chain: Building Efficiency from Policy to Patient,” with a sub-theme titled “AI, Ethics and the Physician’s Role in Modern Healthcare.”
Afolabi, represented by the Acting Chairman, Dr. Ayinde Musa, said no algorithm could replicate the compassion, moral reasoning, and trust that define the physician-patient relationship.
“Physicians must be active participants in shaping this transformation, not passive observers. We must ensure that technology serves humanity, not the other way round,” he said.
While acknowledging the potential of AI to improve efficiency and accessibility, Afolabi said the innovations also raise deep ethical concerns.
He emphasized that effective healthcare delivery begins with sound policy formulation and extends through resource allocation, infrastructure development, workforce training, logistics, and patient outcomes.
“When one link in the chain is weak—whether through poor policy implementation, inadequate funding, lack of equipment, or workforce shortages—the entire system suffers,” he said.
Afolabi noted that Nigeria’s health sector continues to grapple with multiple challenges, including inadequate financing, inconsistent policies, shortage and migration of healthcare professionals, poor primary healthcare infrastructure, and weak referral systems.
“To build efficiency, we must adopt a system-thinking approach that aligns policy, practice, and patient-centred outcomes,” he added.
He urged policymakers to engage practitioners in decision-making and advised medical professionals to uphold standards and ethics in their practice.
“Patients must have equitable access to quality care. Efficiency in healthcare is not about speed alone, but about delivering the right care, at the right time, by the right team, using the right resources,” Afolabi said.
Activities lined up for the 2025 Physicians’ Week include visits to motherless babies’ homes and school outreach programmes tagged “Young Doctors’ Day,” aimed at sensitizing students about careers in the medical field.
