RIYADH: A Saudi doctor shared the inspiring story of how she founded a startup that provides free AI-powered eye examinations to rural communities across the Kingdom.
Speaking on day two of the Creative Women Forum in Riyadh, Dr. Selwa Al-Hazzaa, CEO of SDM, said she set up the company with her son, now managing director, Naif Al-Obaidallah.
“I have yet to see a company out there where there is a mother and her son is the co-founder with her,” Al-Hazzaa said.
“If this tells you anything, it means that we believe in our children and our children believe in us.”
SDM, which partners with nonprofit organizations, uses AI technology to carry out mass detection of chronic diseases through the retina.
“I want to democratize healthcare. If you’re a VIP, if you are a janitor that sweeps, you should be able to have the same healthcare. This is what AI is doing. We are going to make it cheap, we are going to make it accessible,” Al-Hazzaa said.
“We have already done more than 25,000 free examinations. We don’t charge. We started with the Ministry of Health and went to the areas that are poor and highly populated and illiterate, and now I run 13 charity centers where they examine diabetics.”
Al-Hazzaa was formerly head of the ophthalmology department at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, where she worked for 35 years. The decision to set up her own business came after a tragic incident involving a person with diabetes who went blind because of a delay to their treatment caused by hospital bureaucracy.
“This was frustrating to me, I wanted to see the patients when they were still raw, when they were just diagnosed with diabetes,” she said.
“This just kept bothering me. Can you imagine out of frustration I was able to reach where I am today, running one of the largest health tech startups?”
Al-Hazzaa told the audience not to be afraid to take chances in life.
“I cannot believe the risks and the challenges that I took,” she said. “Get out of your comfort zone, navigate, this is where success comes in with challenges.”
Al-Hazzaa was the late King Fahd’s personal ophthalmologist and in 2013 was part of the first cohort of women to be appointed to the Shoura Council, the Kingdom’s official advisory body.
Patron of the Creative Women Forum Princess Noura bint Saud spoke about Al-Hazzaa’s vision and courage.
“From day one, Dr. Selwa has been an inspiration to me, her journey pioneering and being a leader in what she does, her passion and grit and wanting the better for her people, her community and her country and not accepting a solution that was not the best solution,” she told Arab News.
“Her courageousness for going out at the peak of her career and joining the startup world and doing that at her level and how society sees it, I think that is amazing and it inspires me for what I do for the culture and creative sector, to not accept anything less than the best.”
The princess highlighted the importance of bringing distinguished female leaders such as Al-Hazzaa to speak about their experiences and successes at the forum.
“It’s very important for us to see real-life examples globally and as well from Saudi women making it in their own way, in their own field. There is so much power in that and it keeps us moving forward.”
Monique Blokzyl, founder and CEO of HeartPowered Business, which helps startups to grow, said of Al-Hazzaa’s speech: “I’m really blown away. It’s been amazing. This woman is such a legend already, making it a mission herself to democratize medical solutions and healing to everyone through the power of AI is absolutely amazing.”
