In an era where technology is reshaping every aspect of our lives, healthcare stands to benefit tremendously from innovative solutions—particularly in regions where resources are limited and access to quality care remains a challenge. Since 2015, The Pfizer Foundation's Global Health Innovation Grants (GHIG) program has been at the forefront of supporting community-based initiatives aimed at improving healthcare quality, testing and scaling locally driven technology and innovation and strengthening health systems in lower-income countries.
A Refined Focus on AI-Driven Healthcare Solutions
In its commitment to understanding, testing, and scaling transformative innovations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), The Pfizer Foundation is supporting six groundbreaking grantees harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to strengthen healthcare systems. These groundbreaking initiatives are specifically designed to tackle the challenges of preventing, diagnosing, and treating infectious diseases within vulnerable populations that encounter systemic barriers to accessing quality healthcare.
This new investment through The Global Health Innovation Grants (GHIG) program acknowledges AI as a key factor in enhancing health outcomes by making healthcare delivery more efficient and equitable. Through this cohort, the program also aspires to illuminate the numerous ways AI can be leveraged to revolutionize healthcare and address pressing global health challenges globally.
Each grantee is working over an 18-month period to implement and evaluate established AI innovations across several critical health areas:
- Vaccine-preventable infectious diseases
- Oncology
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Maternal and child health
The selected projects aim to advance healthcare access by improving clinical pathways, enhancing decision-making processes, optimizing operations, and strengthening supply chains at the community and primary healthcare levels.
Meet the Innovative Grantees
Fundación Vive con Bienestar (Bive)
Despite free access to HPV screening and vaccination in Colombia, cervical cancer prevention efforts are hindered by low participation rates—only 25% of women complete screenings and just 37% of girls are vaccinated—due to limited public awareness, especially in rural areas, inadequate outreach by public hospitals, and ineffective health communication strategies. Fundación Vive con Bienestar (Bive), a social organization facilitating access to fast, high-quality, and affordable health services for vulnerable rural families in Colombia, aims to double early HPV diagnosis through cytology and molecular testing, ensuring timely treatment for high-risk women while increasing HPV vaccination rates. The initiative also focuses on enhancing knowledge and attitudes around healthy sexual practices and cervical cancer prevention in targeted rural communities.
Across Africa, maternal mortality rates have plateaued, driven by delays in health seeking and persistent gaps in quality of lifesaving maternal and newborn health care. This situation stems from a lack of access to reliable health information, insufficient antenatal and postnatal services, and systemic barriers. There is a rapidly evolving landscape of innovative solutions to help address these challenges, yet few have been sustainably integrated into government health agendas and budgets or delivered at scale. Jacaranda Health, a Kenyan company, offers a package of low-cost solutions that includes an AI-powered 2-way chat service for pregnant and new mothers. Mothers receive critical advice and risk screening via SMS that can save lives and make health systems better. They are currently expanding this program into Ghana, aiming to enhance health-seeking behaviors and improve maternal and child health outcomes in the country.
In sub-Saharan Africa, over 400 million adults live with chronic health conditions, and the WHO estimates that 20% of people will die prematurely from preventable causes. This issue is exacerbated by geographical and socio-economic barriers to care, and limited integrated care and patient support, despite the potential of self-care coaching to enhance health outcomes and reduce complications for these populations (including mothers and newborns). In Nigeria, mDoc Healthcare, a digital health social enterprise, is tackling these challenges through a unique high-tech, high-touch approach that combines artificial intelligence, behavioural science, quality improvement methods, data and compassionate human support to optimize end-to-end self-care. Their project focuses on empowering underserved communities to manage their health through AI-driven tools that improve health literacy, drive digital literacy, promote early detection, and encourage treatment adherence, aiming to significantly improve health outcomes in these vulnerable populations.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant global health challenge, projected to result in an annual increase of 10 million deaths over the next 25 years. This issue is particularly concerning in low- and middle-income countries that lack sufficient healthcare resources and effective antimicrobial stewardship programs. In response, Munai Health, a technology company, is set to transform the healthcare system in Curitiba, Brazil, by integrating an AI-powered antimicrobial stewardship tool. This initiative aims to improve adherence to antimicrobial protocols by 20%, addressing the misuse of antibiotics. Additionally, the project seeks to enhance public awareness of responsible antibiotic consumption and establish a learning community to share knowledge and best practices, ultimately working together to combat the urgent threat of antimicrobial resistance.
Malnutrition continues to be a significant public health challenge for women and children in Bangladesh, despite recent government efforts. This ongoing issue requires targeted interventions. Sevamob, an innovative AI-assisted disease management platform, aims to address this issue by deploying AI-enabled mobile medical units nationwide. These units will provide essential healthcare services directly to underserved communities, with a focus on reducing care costs by up to 50% for various health issues, including nutrition. By utilizing advanced technologies like SymptomsAI and DietAI, the program will not only deliver general health services but also provide targeted interventions to combat malnutrition. Through this initiative, Sevamob intends to improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations while making healthcare more accessible and affordable.
Malaria continues to pose a severe health threat in Africa, causing numerous deaths each year. In Ghana, vaccine effectiveness is hampered by a 39% reduction in doses, primarily due to unreliable patient tracking systems and inadequate identification methods. To address this challenge, Simprints, a technology company, is developing ethical digital identities using biometric data. This initiative aims to ensure that critical resources, such as vaccines and public health services, reach those most in need. The company seeks to increase malaria vaccination coverage by enhancing clinician-patient interactions through the use of open-source AI biometrics and follow-up reminders in underserved communities in Ghana and Uganda.
Building the Future of Global Health Through Strategic AI Investments
Investments in these organizations exemplify how strategic investments in AI-driven healthcare solutions can address critical gaps in healthcare delivery systems across low- and middle-income countries. By supporting these innovative projects, the foundation is not only tackling immediate healthcare challenges but also laying the groundwork for more sustainable, efficient, and equitable health systems for the future.
These initiatives represent the transformative potential of combining technological innovation with community-based approaches to overcome long-standing barriers to healthcare access and improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations worldwide.