Harnessing AI to promote health equity for ex-miners in southern Africa
You are invited! Drs. Annalee Yassi, Khumbo Kalua and Jerry Spiegel will be giving a presentation as part of the SPPH Seminar Series on Friday, October 18, 2024.
Presentation: Can artificial intelligence be harnessed to promote health equity for a population with a high burden of lung disease? Introducing a multi-methods study of ex-miners and their communities in Malawi and across Southern Africa
Date & Time:
9:00am-10:00am PT, Friday, October 18, 2024
Location:
In-person: B104, School of Population and Public Health, 2206 East Mall, Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z3
Online: Zoom
If attending on Zoom, please register using the link below to receive the online meeting details.
https://ubc.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5cqd-6qqz0qGNCbRz2_KnkRta_rknKyyNL9
About the presentation
Following discovery of gold in late 19th century South Africa, recruitment of men from across southern Africa to work as miners was actively pursued, growing to a peak of 480,00 in the year of 1988 alone. The legacy of injustice associated with this ongoing labour practice has resulted in a variety of health and social impacts, including a high burden of occupational lung diseases and tuberculosis (TB) among these migrant workers, which, upon returning to their home countries, was often spread to their families and communities. Due to a lack of resources, access to health and social benefits has been highly challenging for ex-miners and their dependants. One major barrier is the shortage of medical professionals trained to read chest X-rays for TB and occupational lung diseases, especially needed because TB and silicosis mimic and mask each other. Although the WHO has approved computer-assisted detection (CAD) for TB screening, these systems have not yet been validated for populations with a high burden of lung disease, raising equity concerns and many related challenges. This session introduces a multi-component CIHR-funded study that probes the needs and challenges of this population. We will present results of the several preliminary studies we have conducted, and lessons learned to date, with a focus on Malawi, as well as other countries in the region. The benefits and pitfalls of artificial intelligence in such settings will be explored, examining health system determinants needed for success.
About the presenters
Dr. Annalee Yassi, a Professor at SPPH, is a former Tier 1 CRC Chair in Global Health and Capacity-Building and specialist in both Public Health Preventive Medicine and Occupational Medicine, and co-directs a WHO collaborating centre. She has a special interest in community-based intervention projects and ethics in global health research.
Dr. Khumbo Kalua is an Associate Professor at SPPH and has been involved in various global health projects in Malawi for over a decade.
Dr. Jerry Spiegel is a Professor at SPPH who co-directs a WHO collaborating centre and has a particular interest in the effects of globalization on health equity. He is Principal Investigator of the “Using locally developed computer-assisted detection to promote social justice for a population with a high burden of lung disease: A participatory equity-sensitive approach” research project.