Cape Town- and London-based technology company Suppple launched an AI health bot at Africa Health ExCon, held in Egypt this month.

Suppple says the health bot will provide digital healthcare assistance to the 54 member States of the African Union (AU), in what it says “is a move to support the establishment of a new public health order for the African continent today”.

The AI health bot is data-free and learns from the inputs it receives from consumers.

It aims to be a strategic tool for local healthcare and regulatory bodies in Africa by leveraging the data provided by individuals to track and trace any regional outbreaks or hotspots where infections may be spreading.

“The AI health bot will revolutionise how we respond to healthcare crises in Africa through its data-sharing capabilities,” says Suppple CEO Professor Eldrid Jordaan.

“It can provide public and private stakeholders with access to healthcare data in real-time, offering a centralised dashboard of information to any government official or healthcare administrator in Africa.”

Jordaan says innovation and technology can play a strategic role in shaping the future of healthcare in Africa.

“We are delighted to provide real-time data analytics with the AU, and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to support the development and deployment of solutions that will ultimately revolutionise how we respond to pandemics and outbreaks in the future.”

The application programming interface-driven chatbot also offers an interactive conversational experience for African citizens looking to learn more about their health symptoms or conditions.

The bot should also streamline the interoperability of systems, which would otherwise remain fragmented by the individual silos of different healthcare providers in Africa.

By centralising medical information in this manner, Suppple’s health bot seeks to improve service delivery and the effective deployment of healthcare services.