A.I. IN HEALTHCARE
How AI is revolutionising healthcare on the continent
Artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare across Africa – improving access, diagnosis and treatment. and accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
By Fiona Zerbst.
For decades, healthcare in Africa has faced seemingly insurmountable challenges – among them the burdens of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; chronically under-resourced health systems; and limited access to diagnostics and specialist care.
Infrastructure constraints and funding gaps have slowed progress, leaving frontline health workers to shoulder immense responsibility.
There is currently one doctor for every 3,000 patients in Africa, with a projected shortage of 4.3-million doctors by 2035, according to the World Health Organization. So, with just 3% of the global healthcare workforce serving 17% of the world’s population, technology is increasingly stepping in to close critical gaps.
Shaping progress one innovation at a time
Although under-five mortality has declined significantly in the past 50 years, Africa still faces preventable deaths due to late diagnoses and limited access to routine care. Now, the convergence of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, mobile platforms and artificial intelligence is accelerating change.
AI tools alone are projected to save more than one million African lives by 2030, with 700 million people expected to benefit from remotecare innovations, according to World Future Health Africa.
Tuberculosis (TB), one of the continent’s most persistent health threats, is an area where rapid progress is being made due to technology. Africa accounts for nearly a quarter of global TB cases, and detection gaps continue to drive transmission.
Delft Imaging’s CAD4TB software, which analyses chest X-rays to flag abnormalities, has helped screen more than 55-million people and is now used in over 90 countries, including a growing number in Africa.
Delft is a Netherlands-based company specialising in accessible, portable and AI-driven medical imaging solutions, particularly for tuberculosis screening in low-resource environments. In Africa, it recently partnered with EPCON, a multinational impact company that uses AI to quantify health risks in specific regions and population groups.
EPCON’s Epicontrol platform has pinpointed TB hotspots across several Nigerian states, with TB positivity rates up to 103% higher than those detected through conventional approaches. In South Africa, AI-enhanced targeting has reduced the cost of identifying active cases from US$1,748 to $437 cost per TB case, Delft says.
“By seamlessly integrating imaging data with surveillance intelligence, CAD4TB+ transforms every screening into an insight that helps close the detection gap and accelerate the path toward TB elimination,” comments Guido Geerts, President and CEO of Delft Imaging.
“By seamlessly integrating imaging data with surveillance intelligence, CAD4TB+ transforms every screening into an insight that helps close the detection gap and accelerate the path toward TB elimination,” comments Guido Geerts, President and CEO of Delft Imaging.
Reducing maternal mortality through smart technology
Maternal mortality remains one of Africa’s most urgent challenges. Every two minutes, a woman dies from pregnancy related causes, nearly 70% of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Lack of access to basic ultrasound scans means many risks go unnoticed until women go into labour.
BabyChecker, also developed by Delft Imaging, brings obstetric screening to the frontline. Six simple sweeps across the abdomen allow the tool to identify risks in real time – from a placenta blocking the baby’s way out to a baby lying in the wrong position for birth. The tool requires only a charged smartphone, operates offline, and requires around two hours of training to use, making it viable for rural clinics with unreliable electricity.
More than 13,000 scans have already been conducted in at least 15 countries, from Ethiopia to Sierra Leone, demonstrating how low-cost ultrasound can transform pregnancy care in regions with limited access to specialists.
Tools like CAD4TB+ and BabyChecker are showing that cost-effective solutions can be deployed in everyday settings, from prisons to rural clinics.
Taking on the malaria challenge
Malaria remains endemic in large swathes of Africa, with the WHO African Region recording 251-million cases and 579,414 deaths in 2023. Nigeria alone accounts for 27% of global cases.
Audere’s HealthPulse AI uses mobile-based computer vision to interpret malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs).
Audere is a US-based digital health nonprofit organisation which develops solutions to improve global health outcomes in the world’s most underserved communities. It combines smartphone technology, computer vision and machine learning, and cloud-based services to deliver tailored healthcare technology solutions.
In a peer-reviewed 2025 BMC Digital Health study in Kano State, Nigeria, HealthPulse AI achieved 90.2% accuracy in identifying faintpositive tests – outperforming frontline workers who achieved 76.1%.
Like BabyChecker, HealthPulse AI works without a continuous internet connection, enabling health workers to accurately diagnose even in remote settings.
A lifestyle AI companion providing health guidance
AI-driven health companions are becoming more common, but Audere’s SelfCav stands out for its focus on sexual and mental health support.
Launched in South Africa with the Department of Health and ShoutItNow, the ‘alwayson’ chatbot offers judgementfree guidance on HIV prevention, treatment adherence, mental wellbeing and related issues.
Shout-It-Now is a donor-funded organisation which delivers free community-based health services to South African youth.
The Centre for HIV/AIDS Prevention Studies’ Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) programme now uses SelfCav for pre and post-procedure support, giving young men a discreet, reliable place to ask questions they may be uncomfortable raising with clinicians.
By meeting users on their phones – privately, and on their own terms – SelfCav is becoming a trusted companion in a space often marked by stigma and silence.
Diagnostics at primary care clinics
Kenya’s Ilara Health, founded in 2019 to improve access to diagnostics and primary care across Africa, is another example of AI-enabled innovation improving everyday care. Partly funded by the Philips Foundation, Ilara partners with over 3,000 clinics across 46 counties in Kenya, providing access to diagnostic devices, pharmaceuticals, and clinicmanagement software.
These tools help rural and peri-urban clinics deliver more reliable and affordable care.
“Our goal is to assist independent providers in delivering superior healthcare through access to essential equipment and digital services,” co-founder Maximilian Mancini is quoted as saying in a 2024 article published by the Netherlands-based Philips Foundation.
Despite funding constraints – a common hurdle in African healthtech – the company says it intends to expand to thousands more clinics as countries pursue stronger universal health coverage systems.
Strategic solutions that don’t reinvent the wheel
Across Africa, AI is not replacing doctors, nurses or community health workers. Instead, it is amplifying their work by giving midwives access to ultrasound insights, enabling community workers to interpret malaria tests accurately, and helping small clinics offer diagnostics they could not previously afford.
Tools like CAD4TB+, BabyChecker, HealthPulse AI, Self-Cav, and Ilara’s clinic support systems demonstrate that meaningful progress doesn’t depend on dramatic infrastructure overhauls. Often, it starts with something far simpler: a connected phone, a portable device, or a digitised clinic with the tools it needs to make early detection, timely referral and dignified care the rule rather than the exception.
If Africa’s health systems are to meet the demands of the next decade, the path forward will be built on these practical, scalable innovations, which are already quietly saving lives every day across the continent.
