Artificial Intelligence Research Could Empower Pharmacovigilance in Sub-Saharan Africa (2024)

Undergraduate: Erin Mazur

Faculty Advisor: Cynthia Current
Department: UNC SLATE

---

The practices of colonialism left healthcare systems lacking in the low and middle-income countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. This legacy continues as the nations are exploited for Western-priortitized research as opposed to aided in health care capacity building. Specifically, the pharmacovigilance systems in these regions are deficient. Pharmacovigilance should be a major priority in Sub-Saharan Africa where a culture of traditional, counterfeit, and substandard escalate drug-related morbidity. However, efforts are barred by low funding and human resource constraints. The applications of artificial intelligence show promise to enable pharmacovigilance despite these barriers. Western researchers will require copious adverse-drug reaction cases to train the intelligence models in preparation for widespread implementation. This project finds that coordination between Western research and its implementation in Sub-Saharan Africa would be mutually beneficial.