Foundations & Futures
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Is Global Health AI ready?

Foundations & Futures: Reimagining Public Health in the Artificial Intelligence Era Across the Global South examines the public health foundations countries need to harness the promise of AI.

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Can Artificial Intelligence compensate for weak public health systems and infrastructure?

Advanced technologies cannot perform well unless the foundational systems beneath them are already in place. No matter how strong the model or software may be, it will have limited value if the surrounding system is not ready to support, absorb, and sustain it.

— Digital Health Implementation Expert South Asia

Regional Landscape

What is the current state of AI Readiness in public health across the global south?

Africa

Rising AI policy momentum is clear, but foundational gaps remain: health data availability averages 62% and connectivity averages 59 across reporting countries

Methods

How did we assess readiness?

01 an atlas of readiness

Readiness footprint at the Global South

The report assessed AI readiness across countries in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East using public data on AI policy, connectivity, interoperability, health data availability, and workforce capacity. All fonts available on the full report.

83
Countries
5
Readiness domains

Begin

Select a country to read its foundations

Each nation on this map carries its own composition of policy, data, connectivity, and institutional capacity. Touch a territory to reveal the systems that underwrite, or constrain, its capacity for AI in public health.

02 Strategic consultations

Stakeholder interviews

Interviews, consultations, and cross-regional exchanges with public health leaders, policymakers, technical experts, and institutions helped ground the analysis in real system constraints and implementation experience.

If countries don’t have the technical and political foundations for robust governance, coherent policies, and trusted infrastructure, technologies won’t scale, and the enabling environment won’t be pressure-tested.

— Global Health Governance Expert

03 USE CASES

Rapid use case scan across global south

The scan reviewed AI tools, pilots, and research across public health functions, then grouped examples by purpose, implementation status, public health relevance, and recurring use-case area:

  • AI-enhanced diagnostics and screening

  • AI for Surveillance, Pattern Recognition, and Early Warning

  • AI for public communication and behavior change

  • AI for Frontline Worker Support and Service Delivery

  • System Intelligence, Planning, and Resource Allocation

Foundation

What foundations are needed for AI-ready public health systems?

Public Health Foundation

The health-system capabilities that make public health data reliable, connected, governed, and usable for routine action.

AI depends on reliable data systems, governance and public ownership, human and institutional capacity, and sustainable financing. These determine whether tools can support real decisions, workflows, and public value.

FROM REPORT

Foundations & Futures: Reimagining Public Health in the Artificial Intelligence Era Across the Global South | Learn more on the full report

National Foundation

The wider state architecture that allows health systems to connect, govern, scale, and sustain digital and AI-enabled functions.

The wider state architecture that allows health systems to connect, govern, scale, and sustain digital and AI-enabled functions.

FROM REPORT

Foundations & Futures: Reimagining Public Health in the Artificial Intelligence Era Across the Global South | Learn more on the full report

Call to action

What must governments, funders, and partners prioritize now?

01

Make public health data strategies sustainable

AI readiness requires long-term financing and workforce capacity, not short-term pilots, isolated platforms, or tools that disappear when projects end.

Call to action

Fund the systems that allow AI to endure: hosting, maintenance, updates, connectivity, workforce development, and institutional capacity to manage tools over time.

02

Keep public health data publicly governed

Countries need authority over the systems, standards, platforms, and rules that shape how AI is selected, deployed, monitored, and used.

Call to action

Strengthen governance, procurement, oversight, consent, and accountability mechanisms so AI serves national priorities and protects public trust.

03

Build inclusive, contextualized data systems

AI can only serve everyone if the data systems beneath it reflect everyone, including communities often left out of digital systems.

Call to action

Invest in population-wide, equity-ready data systems that capture rural, marginalized, lower-income, displaced, and linguistically diverse communities.

Foundations & Futures

Read the full report

Explore the full analysis of AI readiness, public health foundations, regional landscapes, emerging use cases, and actions for governments, funders, and partners.