What I learned deploying machine learning in a Lagos clinic with 1 ophthalmologist for 200,000 people

In 2021, I deployed a machine learning model that diagnosed 5 eye conditions with 87% accuracy at a Nigerian clinic with 1 ophthalmologist serving 200,000 people. The waiting time dropped. Not by minutes. By days. But getting there? That’s the story worth telling. The Problem Nobody Talks About Nigeria has roughly 200 million people. We have about 1,000 ophthalmologists. Do the math. I was working as a Clinical Analyst at Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board when I saw the pattern. Patients would show up at the eye hospital with symptoms. Then they’d wait. Sometimes weeks. By the time they got a diagnosis, preventable conditions had progressed too far. Diabetic retinopathy. Age-related macular degeneration. Glaucoma. These aren’t abstract conditions in a textbook. They’re my neighbors. My family members. People who lose their sight because there aren’t enough specialists to see them in time. I was also building MedVendorHub, a healthtech startup connecting patients to medical services.