The study was conducted by Mbarara University of Science and Technology and the AI developed by a New York-based firm, Current Health, with an aim of improving postpartum healthcare for women across Africa.
According to Joseph Ngonzi, a senior lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Medicine at MUST, AI devices will “improve monitoring in a resource-constrained environment”.
The stake of patients’ information privacy with AI
“We only use that data for the purposes of delivering our service and making it better for patients,” he said. “I believe patients should clearly know exactly what is happening with their data, and we make this very transparent to them.” CEO Current Health, Chris McCann said.
- Patients will also be required to sign informed consent papers to indicate that they agree to the whole process and all data will be transmitted in an encrypted form.
However, he also showed concern about the unequal distribution of electric power and internet which may render the initiative futile in some parts of the country.
(Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla, Editing by Tom Finn. Thomson Reuters Foundation)