Ghana is expecting to strengthen AI-assisted healthcare collaboration with China to enhance the wellbeing of its people as the two countries keep promoting exchange and cooperation in the medical field.
The AI-assisted healthcare cooperation was built on the two countries' years of healthcare exchanges and communication, during which batches of Chinese medical workers had been sent to the African country to help enhance its independent medical capability.
"Our main goal is to help Ghanaian medical workers make progress through years of cooperation with us by introducing new ideas, providing technical guidance, and offering regular training. Our mission is to build a medical team that continues to serve even after we leave," said Yang Yongguang, leader of the 14th Chinese Medical Team to Ghana.
Yang's team successfully carried out surgeries to save two Ghanaian orphans from umbilical hernia at the China-Ghana Friendship Hospital, popularly known as Lekma Hospital, in Accra.
The milestone achievement stood as an exceptional example of the increasing medical cooperation between the two countries, which a top Ghanaian health official said will be further enhanced by focusing on high-tech fields such as AI.
"We've identified that using technology, you can bridge some of these gaps. And one of the areas of identify (identification) has to do with introducing AI into our health service system for screening, for diagnostics, for treatment, among many other things. And we are looking forward to collaborating with China, with the companies, with the AI companies to see how best together we would advance," said Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, director-general of the Ghana Health Service.
AI has emerged as one of the most important fields of medical cooperation between China and Ghana. In Aug 20, the second edition of the China-West Africa Medical and Health Industry Expo opened in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, to promote the use of AI in medical diagnosis and deepen project cooperation between China and West African countries.
The three-day event, co-organized by the Health Community of West Africa (HCOWA), a Ghana-based Chinese firm, and the Ghana Health Service, brought together government officials, health professionals, regulators, and more than 100 exhibitors from China and West African countries.
Ghana expects to strengthen AI-assisted healthcare collaboration with China
Iran and Oman are close to finalizing an agreement on new arrangements for commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, under which the temporary northern and southern routes will be replaced by a new single route passing through Iran's territorial waters for two to four months, said a senior Iranian diplomat.
In an interview with the official news agency IRNA published Wednesday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi said the two sides had reached in-principle agreement on almost all relevant issues, including the entry and exit route map, following more than three weeks of consultations.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Tuesday described the ongoing talks between Iran and Oman as "positive" at both technical and political levels, with a focus on designating safe routes for vessels' passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
According to him, the two countries have reached consensus on the geographic coordinates of the proposed routes through the Strait and are now finalizing a joint statement.
However, Kazem Gharibabadi pointed out that the potential agreement did not mean that the strait would be reopened completely.
He emphasized that the terms of navigation in the Strait must be determined exclusively by Iran and Oman, and that Tehran would firmly reject any outside interference.
Gharibabadi rejected U.S. claims of negotiations with Iran, saying Tehran had received messages from Washington expressing readiness to return to commitments under the peace memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the two sides in June.
According to the deputy minister, the United States sent a message to Iran four to five days after the outbreak of the latest round of hostilities, proposing negotiations to address the issue.
Meanwhile, an informed source close to the Iranian negotiating team told the semi-official Fars news agency that the reopening of the strait hinges on tangible U.S. implementation of its commitments, adding that the U.S. Treasury Department's removal of sanctions on an Iraqi airline on Wednesday was unrelated to the Iran-U.S. MoU.
Iran tightened its control over the Strait of Hormuz on Feb. 28, barring safe passage of vessels belonging to or affiliated with Israel and the United States, following their joint launch of strikes on Iranian territory.
The U.S. military launched multiple waves of strikes against Iranian targets last month, saying they were in response to Iranian attacks on vessels in the strait and aimed at "degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping."
Iran responded with missile and drone attacks targeting U.S. military bases and facilities in the region.
Iran, Oman close to finalizing deal on new Hormuz Strait shipping arrangements: Iran's deputy foreign minister
