# I want to treat billion people | Adil Haider | TEDxRMI Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdQro1PQJgQ Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/PdQro1PQJgQ Generated: 2026-02-19T16:36:37.121+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Dr. Adil Haider's TEDx talk outlines his ambitious goal to use technology, specifically AI-powered tools like HAMI, to bridge the 'Know-Do Gap' in healthcare, aiming to treat one billion people by democratizing access to medical knowledge and improving care outcomes globally, especially in underserved areas. **Key Points:** - The speaker's central goal is to treat one billion people, which he believes is now possible through technology. - He highlights the 'Know-Do Gap' where medical science advances rapidly (the know), but implementation lags (the do), causing people to wait for proven treatments. - Dr. Haider drew inspiration from his childhood in a rural US Midwest location and his subsequent work in Karachi, Pakistan, contrasting accessible high-level care with areas lacking basic access. - He emphasizes the critical link between health insurance and survival rates, citing a 2008 Newsweek article that uninsured patients are 50% more likely to die from traumatic injuries. - He introduced HAMI (AI Powered Physician Assistant from BostonHealth.AI), an AI tool that listens to patient history, conducts triage, and prepares notes for doctors, thus reducing administrative burden. - The development of clinical practice guidelines for conditions like COVID-19 and cardiac bypass, which involved collaboration between US institutions (like Harvard) and AKU in Pakistan, demonstrates successful knowledge creation and dissemination. - The ultimate vision is 'People-Driven Medicine,' where technology illuminates the world, ensuring that the 90% of the world excluded from medical knowledge creation can benefit from it. ![Screenshot at 07:07: The speaker uses a slide illustrating the 'Know-Do Gap' as a chasm between two bridge towers, symbolizing the delay in applying advanced medical knowledge to patients worldwide.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PdQro1PQJgQ/00-07-07.jpg) **Context:** Dr. Adil Haider, a surgeon and public health professional, delivers a TEDx talk titled 'I want to treat a billion people.' He reflects on his background, moving from growing up in rural Minnesota to working in Karachi, Pakistan, to illustrate stark disparities in healthcare access. His presentation centers on leveraging technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), to close the gap between medical knowledge acquisition and practical application, advocating for a future of 'People-Driven Medicine' accessible to all. ## Detailed Analysis Dr. Adil Haider begins by stating his goal to treat a billion people, attributing this possibility to current technological advancements. He introduces the concept of the 'Know-Do Gap,' illustrating it with an image of an incomplete bridge, where science creates knowledge on one side, but people on the other side wait for access to those advances. He personalizes this issue by recounting his childhood in the rural US Midwest and his later experience in Karachi, Pakistan, where lack of basic healthcare access was evident, contrasting it with the high-level care available in top US hospitals like Johns Hopkins. He stresses the deadly consequences of this gap, referencing a 2008 Newsweek statistic that uninsured patients have a 50% higher likelihood of dying from traumatic injuries. To address this, he champions the use of technology, specifically an AI-powered Physician Assistant named HAMI (from BostonHealth.AI). HAMI acts as an ambient tool on a phone (10:49), collecting patient history, interacting in the patient's native language (like Urdu), and preparing structured notes for the doctor, thereby freeing up physician time. He cites the development of clinical practice guidelines (like for COVID-19) through collaboration between Harvard and AKU as a success in moving knowledge into practice. Dr. Haider concludes by projecting a future of 'People-Driven Medicine' where technology illuminates the world, ensuring that the 90% of the global population who have historically only experienced medicine without shaping it can finally gain accessible, high-quality care. ### Personal Journey & Motivation - Recounts moving from rural US Midwest upbringing to working in Karachi, Pakistan - Highlights the contrast in healthcare access - States his goal to treat a billion people. ### The Know-Do Gap - Defines the gap as the delay between scientific advancement and patient care delivery - Uses a graphic of an incomplete bridge to illustrate this delay - Cites Newsweek statistic that uninsured patients are 50% more likely to die from trauma. ### The Solution - HAMI AI - Introduces HAMI, an AI-powered Physician Assistant on a phone - HAMI listens to patient history, interacts in native languages (like Urdu), and prepares notes for the doctor. ### Real-World Application & Success - Discusses developing clinical practice guidelines with Johns Hopkins and Harvard - Mentions the guidelines were successfully used in Pakistan during COVID-19 and covered common diseases and cardiac bypass procedures. ### Conclusion - Envisions a future of 'People-Driven Medicine' where technology closes the gap, ensuring that the 90% of the world previously excluded from shaping medical knowledge can receive equitable care. ![Screenshot at 00:07: Dr. Adil Haider on stage at TEDxRMI with the theme 'IDEAS THAT HEAL & TRANSFORM' visible.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PdQro1PQJgQ/00-00-07.jpg) ![Screenshot at 01:34: Slide illustrating the core problem: 'In Healthcare: Geography is Destiny,' shown over a snowy rural landscape.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PdQro1PQJgQ/00-01-34.jpg) ![Screenshot at 03:59: Slide illustrating the 'KNOW-DO GAP' as an incomplete bridge, stating 'Science advances, People wait.'](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PdQro1PQJgQ/00-03-59.jpg) ![Screenshot at 05:06: Slide showing a split image: Dr. Haider in scrubs in an operating room juxtaposed with a photograph of a distressed urban streetscape.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PdQro1PQJgQ/00-05-06.jpg) ![Screenshot at 10:02: Slide showing a world map illuminated by city lights, emphasizing where medical knowledge creation is concentrated \(the 10%\) versus the rest of the world \(the 90%\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/PdQro1PQJgQ/00-10-02.jpg)