AstraZeneca promotes AI use in disease detection

Source: Pexels

The hub – which was launched at the Daspoort Poli Clinic in Pretoria - drives the company's commitment to healthcare equity and fostering partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including governments, healthcare societies, academia, healthcare providers and patient advocacy groups, to better improve patient outcomes.

More importantly, it highlights AstraZeneca’s key partnerships with Tricog Health in Kenya and Medsol AI Solutions in South Africa. To this end, AstraZeneca has partnered with Medsol AI Solutions in South Africa, to help promote the use of AI in the detection of disease through a state-of-the-art wi-fi ultrasound probe that can detect breast cancer in seconds.

At the launch of the Africa Health Innovation Hub, healthcare practitioners were able to demonstrate the use of the Melusi Breast AI device in a community clinic setting, which is one of the first points of contact for clinical breast examinations and breast-cancer screening for patients.

The Melusi Breast AI rapid-detection app will be rolled out in rural clinics to help in early detection of the disease, supported by a dedicated referral system so that women with positive detection of breast cancer can be offered a quicker turnaround time for therapeutic intervention.

Kathryn Malherbe chief executive officer and founder of MedSol AI Solutions said, "Medsol AI is excited to be leading one of the inaugural projects of the Africa Innovation Hub, with support from AstraZeneca.

“Breast cancer is a devastating disease, with many women in our communities only able to access late-stage diagnoses. The Melusi Breast AI project will enable us to leverage technology and innovation to improve early diagnostic detection rates and patient outcomes in local clinics, ultimately saving lives."

Early diagnosis and treatment of heart failure

In Kenya, the company is expanding an already successful collaboration with Tricog Health. This, after a few years of piloting an AI technology project in India that connects acute coronary syndrome patients to health professionals and routes them to appropriate facilities, enabling early cardio-renal complications to be addressed.

The African hub aims to enhance early diagnosis and treatment of heart failure using Tricog’s InstaECG AI tools for rapid diagnosis, reducing mortality rates and improving quality of life.

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Charit Bhograj, chief executive officer and founder of Tricog Health added, “non-communicable diseases, including heart disease, are on the rise in Kenya and across Africa, and we know that the earlier these conditions are diagnosed, the better chance there is for patients to continue to live long healthy lives.

“By investing in digital health technology, the Africa Health Innovation Hub is enabling the use of advanced AI to screen and diagnose patients remotely, bringing high-quality health tools to people no matter where they live.”

Digital inclusion at heart of partnerships

The hub's fruition marks a positive step in AstraZeneca’s decision to join the World Economic Forum’s Edison Alliance, a public-private partnership that aims to improve the lives of 1 billion people through digital inclusion by 2025.

The partnership reinforces its commitment to harnessing digital innovation to drive inclusion and equity across the healthcare ecosystem, and will be a strong facilitator of the hub.

Gagan Singh, country president of AstraZeneca’s African cluster said, "AstraZeneca aims to strengthen and future-proof health systems across the whole patient journey, ensuring everyone has equitable and affordable access to the life-changing healthcare solutions they need, regardless of where they live.

“The launch of the Africa Health Innovation Hub is a significant step in our goal to unlock digital transformation and innovation in health across the continent, paving the way for patient-centric digital-health solutions that leave no one behind.”