Nigerian well being expertise firm, Helium Health, has secured a $2.5 million (roughly N3.4 billion) grant from Google.org to deploy synthetic intelligence (AI) options geared toward enhancing maternal healthcare supply in Nigeria.
The funding will assist the rollout of medical AI fashions by means of its maternal well being initiative, HeliumMum, throughout Lagos, Delta, Kano and Oyo states, with Lagos serving as the first operational launchpad.
According to an announcement by Google on Wednesday, the corporate was chosen as the one Nigerian organisation amongst 15 international recipients of the $30 million Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Government Innovation, an initiative supporting organisations working with governments to enhance public service supply.
Alongside the funding, Helium Health can even take part in a devoted Google.org Accelerator programme, receiving technical assist from Google engineers and AI product specialists.
Healthcare initiative targets 1.9 million girls
The Nigerian implementation roadmap for the maternal healthcare programme was formally introduced in Lagos throughout an govt briefing with Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, led by executives from Google and Helium Health.
Helium Health mentioned the initiative goals to attain an extra 1.9 million girls over three years and contribute to a 30% discount in maternal mortality by means of the deployment of AI-powered medical instruments.
Speaking on the initiative, Dimeji Sofowora, CEO of Helium Health, mentioned the funding would allow the corporate to scale its present maternal healthcare interventions and develop entry to high quality care.
He famous that the corporate had reached greater than 3.5 million girls by means of its maternal well being initiatives over the previous decade.
Head of Public Health at Helium Health, Dr Shona Oluwatola, highlighted the urgency of the intervention, citing Nigeria’s important contribution to international maternal deaths.
- “Nigeria accounts for nearly three in every ten maternal deaths globally. Behind every maternal death is a woman whose family expected her to come home,” she mentioned.
Oluwatola mentioned the corporate hopes to contribute to a 30% discount in maternal mortality by serving to girls determine being pregnant dangers early and entry acceptable medical consideration.
How HeliumMum will use AI
Through HeliumMum, Helium Health plans to deploy AI instruments that can assist pregnant girls determine potential being pregnant issues early and join them with acceptable healthcare suppliers.
The platform will hyperlink pregnant girls to healthcare amenities geared up with digital medical information and AI-powered medical determination assist methods, serving to healthcare professionals make extra knowledgeable selections and ship acceptable care.
The initiative can even present governments with actionable information to strengthen maternal well being providers, determine gaps in healthcare supply and enhance maternal well being outcomes.
The deployment throughout the 4 states is anticipated to strengthen the mixing of digital well being options into main healthcare supply, significantly in maternal well being providers.
Google expands AI assist for public providers
Google.org mentioned the funding is a part of its broader effort to bridge the hole between the potential of synthetic intelligence and its sensible utility in enhancing public providers.
Maggie Johnson, Global Head of Google.org, mentioned the chosen organisations would obtain each monetary assist and technical help from Google’s AI specialists to show how the expertise can handle real-world challenges.
- “By equipping the 15 selected organizations with funding and pro bono support from Google’s own AI experts, we are empowering the people closest to the problem to show what is truly possible,” she mentioned.
The Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Government Innovation supplies funding to organisations creating AI-powered options in areas together with well being, resilience and the financial system.
What it’s best to know
The grants to Helium Health marks the most recent in Google’s drives to empower Nigerian startups, particularly these specializing in AI.
In April this 12 months, Nairametrics reported that Google chosen 4 Nigerian startups for the tenth cohort of the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa programme.
The 4 chosen startups included Bani, MasteryHive AI, Regxta and Termii.
- The chosen startups are deploying synthetic intelligence to resolve key enterprise and monetary challenges throughout the continent.
- Bani operates a cross-border funds infrastructure platform designed to remove settlement delays for African companies buying and selling globally.
- MasteryHive AI supplies an AI-driven platform that automates transaction reconciliation, fraud detection and anti-money laundering monitoring.
Regxta combines different data-based credit score scoring with a hybrid digital agent mannequin to ship monetary providers to unbanked micro companies, whereas Termii gives an AI powered communications infrastructure platform targeted on dependable monetary messaging for banks and fintech corporations.
