In Africa, AI creates tension as most people are scared AI is here to replace them in their workplaces, but the future of diagnostics may not be about competition, but could be about integrating AI with traditional Diagnostic methods, A HYBRID SYSTEM.
Why A hybrid system Matters
Imagine a doctor in Nigeria is faced with a patient listing a series of symptoms. Some were common, like fever and headache while others were unusual. Immediately, a dozen possible conditions came to his mind: malaria, typhoid, anemia, even early-stage hepatitis. But then the patient could not afford all of these tests meant to rule out each possibility. In traditional healthcare, this often means guesswork, delayed treatment, or worse misdiagnosis.
Now, let’s picture a similar case in Ghana: an emergency patient rushed into a hospital, presenting the same challenge of overlapping symptoms. Within minutes, the doctor considered multiple possible conditions. But time and cost stood as critical barriers. In emergencies, there is no time for running a series of tests, and many patients cannot afford them. While a doctor’s intuition and experience may sometimes lead to the right call, the risk of delayed treatment, wrong prescriptions, or dangerous complications remains high.
These scenarios highlight a pressing truth: across Africa, the limits of traditional diagnostics can leave patients vulnerable. But artificial intelligence could change the story by simplifying complex decisions, saving time, and supporting care without replacing human judgment.
Instead of ordering every test, an AI-powered tool could just process the patient’s symptoms, compare them with thousands of similar cases, and suggest the most likely causes. It may even pick red flags that were missed by the doctor. These helps reduce lists of diagnostic tests to be run (wraps the complexity in diagnostics), reduces cost and time.
The role of Diagnostics in Healthcare cannot be overemphasized. Accurate and timely diagnosis is the gateway to effective treatment, the roadmap for prevention, and the cornerstone of public health strategies(1).
Across Africa, limited infrastructure, workforce shortages, high costs, weak regulation, and urban-focused services restrict access to timely and accurate diagnostics. AI can help bridge these gaps by assisting overworked staff, guiding cost-effective testing, analyzing data quickly, and extending diagnostic support to underserved and remote areas(1).
Hybrid Diagnostics
Hybrid diagnostics simply means combining human expertise + AI support. Instead of an “either/or,” health workers and machines collaborate to deliver more reliable results.
- Malaria: The gold standard technique for malaria diagnosis is optical microscopy examination of blood smear: however, it requires quite a time. AI-assisted microscopes can scan slides, highlight suspected parasites, and reduce fatigue-related human errors(2).
- Cervical Cancer: Cervical cancer is a global burden as it is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in women. Of course, traditional Pap smears remain essential, but artificial intelligence (AI)-based medical diagnostics have shown amazing applicability in the screening and diagnosis of cervical cancer ,it reduces time and false negatives(3).
- Tuberculosis: Artificial Intelligence (AI) based chest X-ray (CXR) screening for tuberculosis (TB) is becoming increasingly popular. AI-powered chest X-ray tools can support community health workers in rural areas where radiologists are scarce and pick missed cases. A study done in India, by Vijayan et al, showed a result of approximately 15.8% increase in overall TB diagnosis as a result of AI integration because these additional cases were not deemed presumptive for TB by radiologists(4).
- Mental Health– AI techniques are now being deployed, and as they continue to improve, they will help mental health practitioners re-define mental illnesses more objectively and identify mental health illnesses on time. Patient self-reports, combined with AI sentiment analysis, allow for early screening that complements traditional clinical interviews(5).
Opportunities and Challenges
Dr. Cedrek MCFadden(Board Certified Colorectal and general surgeon) in an interview on TODAY tv said “…stepping into healthcare now, is like stepping into that future world… where we are able to solve that really complex problems with just incredible efficiency”(6).
There is no doubt that Hybrid systems promise more accurate and timely care. They also empower frontline health workers to act with greater confidence.
But there are challenges- AI requires high-quality data, stable electricity, internet access, and cultural acceptance. Training health workers to trust and correctly interpret AI-assisted results is just as important as the technology itself.
The future of African healthcare is not AI against tradition, but AI with tradition. Instead of choosing between man and machine, the continent can lead with a model where human judgment meets machine precision — a uniquely African approach to health innovation.
REFERENCES
1. Africa Health Business. Expanding Access to Diagnostics is the Cornerstone for Extending Universal Health Coverage in Africa. 2024; Available from: https://africahb.com/elementor-27982/
2. Maturana CR, De Oliveira AD, Nadal S, Bilalli B, Serrat FZ, Soley ME, et al. Advances and challenges in automated malaria diagnosis using digital microscopy imaging with artificial intelligence tools: A review. Front Microbiol. 2022 Nov 15;13:1006659.
3. Hou X, Shen G, Zhou L, Li Y, Wang T, Ma X. Artificial Intelligence in Cervical Cancer Screening and Diagnosis. Front Oncol. 2022 Mar 11;12:851367.
4. Vijayan S, Jondhale V, Pande T, Khan A, Brouwer M, Hegde A, et al. Implementing a chest X-ray artificial intelligence tool to enhance tuberculosis screening in India: Lessons learned. Purkayastha S, editor. PLOS Digit Health. 2023 Dec 7;2(12):e0000404.
5. Graham S, Depp C, Lee EE, Nebeker C, Tu X, Kim HC, et al. Artificial Intelligence for Mental Health and Mental Illnesses: an Overview. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2019 Nov;21(11):116.
6. A look at how artificial intelligence is shaping the health industry [Internet]. A.I shaping the healthcare industry. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8lTI4RSTN4
