Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has revealed plans of a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered portal, which aims to improve knowledge management around emerging diseases and other health issues, across the continent.
According to the organisation, the Africa Health Knowledge Management Portal is the result of collaborative support from Rockefeller Foundation and Mastercard Foundation.
The objective of the hub is to improve availability of key public health resources, such as data, information, documents, and knowledge relevant to the needs of member states. Africa CDC says it will “serve as a one-stop shop through a collaborative approach”.
The platform will provide a central hub for health data, knowledge, research, and policy insights, to provide African Union member states to generate and access knowledge and inform policy and public health action.
The portal is set to operate on three levels: continental, regional and individual member state level. Africa CDC says pilot implementations are underway in some member state countries.
Among the services that the portal will offer are multilingual translation, search tools, a chatbot, and real-time document comparison, to make public health information easier to access, noted Africa CDC.
Additionally, the portal will ensure that health knowledge is readily available and accessible, and can translated into policies and practices to prevent and control diseases and strengthen the health system across the continent.
“This portal is not just a knowledge repository site. It’s a smart system built to catalyse evidence-based decision-making, empower national health systems, and boost regional knowledge exchange and cooperation,” said Mosoka Papa Fallah, acting director of science and innovation at Africa CDC.
He added: “The knowledge exists. The challenge has always been access, translation, and application. With this endeavour, we are bridging that gap.”
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