New study highlights the importance of data, AI in response to COVID-19 challenges

A new report says investment in data and artificial intelligence (AI) is needed to drive the health system improvements needed to respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study – called Reimagining Global Health through Artificial Intelligence: The Roadmap to AI Maturity — was developed by the Broadband Commission Working Group on Digital and AI in Health, which the Novartis Foundation and Microsoft co-chair. The report presents a roadmap to help countries use AI to transform their health systems from being reactive to proactive, predictive, and even preventive.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic is the latest example demonstrating how global health is now data-dependent. There are many cases of lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs) leading the world in their use of AI for health. For example, a virtual health consulting service in Rwanda already covers one-third of the adult population, and Indian hospitals are using AI to predict risk of a heart attack seven years before it might happen.

High-income countries also have much to gain from AI in health. For example, the health worker shortage is predicted to reach 18 million by 2030, and this increases the need for investment in supportive AI tools, which can help nurses and healthcare workers diagnose and treat illnesses traditionally seen by doctors. AI should be used to enhance human capabilities by performing tasks such as processing big data to accelerate and make diagnosing health issues more accurate.

“Many countries are ill-prepared to address new emerging diseases such as COVID-19 in addition to the existing burden of infectious diseases and the ever-increasing tide of chronic diseases. Digital technology and AI are essential enablers to re-engineer health systems,” Ann Aerts, head of the Novartis Foundation and co-chair of the Broadband Commission Working Group on Digital and AI in Health, said.

Aerts added that the biggest changes in health and care delivery will be driven by partnerships of business, innovators, health professionals, and government,

“AI can have a big impact not just in lower-income countries, but across all health systems,” Paul Mitchell of Microsoft, and Working Group co-chair, said. “It’s clear COVID-19 is driving massive change in the use of technology in health – we are seeing in a few months what I would have expected normally to take years, if not decades.”