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Global network using responsible AI: Health systems better prepared for disease outbreaks

 
In an era that is seeing global health threats becoming increasingly frequent and complex, the Global South AI for Pandemic & Epidemic Preparedness and Response (AI4PEP) network is emerging as a beacon of hope and vehicle for real-world change.
Young men in Ghana collect mosquito samples to study the diseases carried by the insects.
RAPiD-VBP KNUST
Members of the AI4PEP Ghana hub collect mosquito samples to study the diseases that the insects may carry locally.

The IDRC-supported AI4PEP initiative addresses existing knowledge and practice gaps in the Global South through a multi-regional network aimed at deepening the understanding of how responsible AI solutions can improve public health preparedness and response. It seeks to strengthen the capacity of interdisciplinary researchers and policymakers across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East to support early detection, response, mitigation and control of developing infectious disease outbreaks.

Each of the 15 projects within AI4PEP is designed to be inclusive, ethical and sustainable in its design and implementation. The projects also adopt an integrated One Health approach, which recognizes and responds to the interconnections between human, animal and environmental health.

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Map of geographical locations of AI4PEP’s 15 projects.
Map of geographical locations of AI4PEP’s 15 projects.

Early results from AI4PEP projects demonstrate positive impacts for health facilities, communities, local research capacities and policymaking, and for growing the body of evidence from the Global South.

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Jude Kong, executive director, AI4PEP
RAPiD-VBP KNUST
Jude Kong, executive director, AI4PEP

Pressing health challenges across the Global South — such as malaria, other vector-borne diseases, polio, air pollution, tuberculosis and weak public health surveillance systems — are the driving force behind this interdisciplinary and intersectoral network. 

“We have led the call to strengthen the health-care systems in low- and medium-income countries (LMICs) in the Global South for more than a year now,” said Jude Kong, assistant professor at York University in Canada and executive director of the AI4PEP network.

The network is poised to add new projects and to contribute to results that support greater gender equality, inclusion and sustainability. 

AI4PEP is part of IDRC’s Artificial Intelligence for Global Health (AI4GH) program, a CAD15.5 million investment launched in 2022.