KEY POINTS
- Health leaders and development partners call for country led adoption of AI and other technologies to support disease elimination.
- Participants say AI could improve surveillance, decision making and targeting of health interventions.
- GLIDE announces new AI training programmes for public health leaders and national programme managers.
- GLIDE and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria sign an agreement to strengthen country led malaria control and elimination.
MAIN STORY
Health leaders, development partners and diagnostics experts have called for countries to take the lead in adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to improve malaria elimination efforts and make better use of limited health resources.
The call was made at a high level event, “Smarter Investment, Greater Impact: Harnessing AI to Accelerate Disease Elimination”, held on the margins of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The event was co hosted by the Global Institute for Disease Elimination (GLIDE), the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and Nigeria, with discussions focused on using AI to improve health investments at a time of shrinking donor budgets and continued pressure on development and humanitarian financing.
Participants examined how technology could strengthen disease surveillance, support decision making and allow health interventions to be deployed more precisely against preventable diseases, including malaria, polio and neglected tropical diseases.
Delivering the keynote remarks, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said countries should determine how emerging technologies are integrated into their health systems.
Pate, represented by Dr Michael Adekunle Charles, Chief Executive Officer of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, said countries affected by malaria were best placed to understand the circumstances and needs of communities living with the disease.
“Malaria-endemic countries must be in the driving seat, whether determining how artificial intelligence and new technologies are applied or strengthening manufacturing and resilient supply chains,” he said.
The minister said the RBM Partnership’s “Big Push against Malaria” was bringing partners together around country priorities while connecting countries with expertise, data, resources and other support required for action.
He said the collaboration between RBM and GLIDE would help turn shared knowledge and innovation into practical action led by affected countries.
Nigeria accounts for the largest share of the global malaria burden and is implementing the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative to strengthen primary healthcare and domestic financing.
Earlier, Dr Farida Hosani, Chief Executive Officer of GLIDE, said malaria elimination would depend on countries being able to convert global knowledge and innovation into practical capabilities.
Hosani said the partnership with RBM would connect technical capacity building with a wider network of partners supporting country led action.
She said the collaboration would provide national programmes and public health leaders with tools, knowledge and partnerships to advance disease elimination according to their respective priorities and circumstances.
A panel discussion chaired by Mr Sam Macintosh, Co Founder of Metli, examined the investment and implementation requirements for expanding AI enabled health programmes.
The panel included Priya Basu, Executive Head of the Pandemic Fund; Joanna Sickler, Vice President for Health Policy and External Affairs at Roche Diagnostics; and Spencer Knoll, Director of U.S. Policy and Advocacy at Malaria No More US.
The panelists stressed the need to connect available capital with viable opportunities while ensuring that data infrastructure, workforce capacity and health system integration were in place to support sustainable implementation.
GLIDE also announced new AI training programmes targeting national programme managers and public health leaders.
The programmes include the GLIDE Leadership Excellence in AI for Health (GLIDE_LEAH), aimed at senior decision makers, and AI for All, developed by the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and tailored with GLIDE for public health professionals worldwide.
According to GLIDE, the programmes are intended to give health leaders the knowledge, confidence and safeguards needed to apply AI in strengthening health systems and accelerating disease elimination.
The event concluded with the signing of a Letter of Mutual Understanding between GLIDE and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria.
The agreement formalises cooperation between the two organisations to put countries most affected by malaria at the centre of malaria control and elimination efforts.
It also establishes a framework for linking global expertise, AI and technical innovation, and capacity building with the priorities of national malaria control programmes and affected communities.
The partnership aligns with the World Health Organisation’s Global Technical Strategy for Malaria and supports efforts to provide countries with learning, expertise and practical resources for malaria control and elimination.
THE ISSUES
- Country ownership is central to the approach discussed at the event, with malaria affected countries expected to determine how AI and other emerging technologies fit into their health systems.
- AI is being considered as a tool for improving disease surveillance, decision making and the targeting of interventions at a time when health programmes face pressure from limited development and humanitarian financing.
- Effective use of AI in public health also depends on supporting infrastructure, including data systems, workforce capacity and integration with existing health systems.
- Local capacity building is being strengthened through the new GLIDE training programmes, which are designed to give public health leaders and programme managers practical knowledge and safeguards for applying AI.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
“Malaria-endemic countries must be in the driving seat, whether determining how artificial intelligence and new technologies are applied or strengthening manufacturing and resilient supply chains.” – Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare
WHAT’S NEXT
GLIDE and the RBM Partnership to End Malaria will work under their new Letter of Mutual Understanding to connect technical expertise, AI innovation and capacity building with the priorities of national malaria programmes and affected communities.
GLIDE will also roll out its new AI training programmes for senior decision makers, national programme managers and public health professionals.
BOTTOM LINE
Health leaders are calling for AI adoption to be driven by the countries that face malaria and other preventable diseases, rather than imposed externally. The approach combines technology with stronger local capacity, health systems and access to relevant expertise and resources.
