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Published on August 8, 2025
The AI4PEP Network (Global South Artificial Intelligence for Pandemic and Epidemic Preparedness and Response) was spotlighted at the V Global Conference on Health and Climate, held from July 29–31, 2025 in Brasília, Brazil. Hosted by the Government of Brazil, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the conference convened global leaders to advance equitable climate action in health systems.
AI4PEP was selected as a featured initiative in the Ideas Lab, a curated platform for showcasing innovative, scalable solutions to climate-sensitive health challenges. Our project titled, ‘AI for Climate-Resilient Health Systems across the Global South,’’ demonstrated how Southern-led AI innovations are transforming public health responses across more than 20 countries in the Global South.
“As climate threats intensify, AI4PEP is proving that the Global South is not just vulnerable, it is visionary,” said Prof. Jude Dzevela Kong, Executive Director of AI4PEP. “Our community-driven tools are saving lives and building resilience where it’s needed most.”
AI4PEP’s interdisciplinary network of AI experts, researchers, public health professionals, and community leaders has co-developed real-time disease surveillance systems, early warning tools, and outbreak response mechanisms for diseases such as malaria, dengue, cholera, and tuberculosis. These innovations are grounded in local contexts and aligned with the Belém Health Action Plan, contributing concrete inputs to its draft and helping define pathways to elevate health as a core pillar of climate action ahead of COP30. The initiative also emphasizes gender equity, Indigenous and youth leadership, and cross-sectoral collaboration, offering a scalable model for digital health innovation led by the Global South.
The conference and Ideas Lab were supported by the Kingdom of Spain, United Kingdom, Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Wellcome.
Find more details about all the selected Ideas Lab submissions here.
Themes | Global Health & Humanitarianism, Global Health Foresighting, Planetary Health |
Status | Active |
Related Work | |
Updates |
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People |
Jude Kong, Faculty Fellow, Faculty of Science - Active
Emmanuel Musa, Community Fellow, AI4PEP - Active |
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