Diabot: AI To Detect Undiagnosed Diabetes Patients

News Desk

Islamabad: An artificial intelligence-based personal diabetes assistant, named Diabot, is launched in Pakistan to detect millions of undiagnosed diabetes patients and get their disease controlled.

Discovering Diabetes Project Head Syed Jamshed Ahmed said that Diabot is an artificial intelligence (AI) program that will respond to queries of common people regarding diabetes, help people in eating healthy diet, and advising on calorie-intake to remain fit and healthy.

Speaking at the launching ceremony of the AI program at a hotel in Karachi, Syed Jamshed said that if diabetes continues to increase at the same rate, 50 per cent of Pakistan’s population will suffer from it.

In this regard, Diabot can play an important role in identifying and linking undiagnosed patients to relevant doctors, Jamshed added.

Project Head said that they are making videos on social media for public awareness and as a result, people are getting screened and we are finding people who were not aware of their diabetes.

Ahmed further stated that earlier the calls used to come on the toll-free number; now Diabot will be able to answer all these questions. This Diabot will also tell us if we can eat a mango; it will even tell you how many calories you have consumed in a day and how many calories you need, he added.

Speaking on this occasion, medical experts opined that the use of AI has become indispensable for the prevention of diseases.

Pakistan Endocrine Society Vice President Dr Ali Asghar informed that ten years ago we were at the tenth place in the prevalence of diabetes worldwide and now we have come to the third place.

As many as 3.5 million Pakistanis are suffering from diabetes. If we include those who have not yet been traced, the number of diabetes patients could be around 60 million, he added.

Dr Ali mentioned that 26 per cent of Pakistan’s population is suffering from diabetes which is no less than a disaster. Now, through this AI-based diagnostic, we can know our own risk factors and don’t have to go to the doctor anymore, Vice President (VP) added.

Physical inactivity in addition to unhealthy, processed food, heavy intake of unhealthy oils and use of sugar-rich sweets, confectionary and drinks are the major cause of diabetes in Pakistan, he informed.

VP Ali advised people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and refrain from eating unhealthy, processed food, including sweet things in food, bakery products and cold drinks.