Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/dr-bot-why-doctors-can-fail-us-and-how-...
Charlotte Blease, author of Dr Bot, suggests a number of questions that might be asked about AI.
I would like to have a go at starting to answer the question, "What is the point in diagnostically accurate AI if patients lack basic utilities, electricity, or the medications to treat them?"
Indeed, AI by definition needs a power source and access to the internet. But what about healthcare decisions by family members (or primary health workers) in an environment where, for example, there are no (or limited) medicines?
Such decisions are just as vital as they are in better resourced environments such as secondary and tertiary healthcare. Family carers and health workers need access to information that is relevant to their current situation and level of resources.
Unlike a static health manual, AI can increasingly be configured to respond according to the specific context where advice is needed.
For example, if I put into Google: "I live in a rural area in Uganda. My child is sick, what do I do? She is 1 year old and she has had diarrhoea for three days. Now she is floppy and unable to sit upright. Should I give her more fluids or less? Should I continue to breastfeed her? Should I take her to the traditional healer who is 1 minute walk from my house? Should I take her to the health clinic which is an hour away by foot? I have a few medicines left over from previous times. Should I give her these medicines? I have a bottle of coca-cola, is this good medicine?"
==
Here is the answer from ChatGPT:
I’m really concerned about your child. From what you describe — a 1-year-old with diarrhea for three days, now floppy and unable to sit upright — this is a medical emergency. Your child may be severely dehydrated and could die without urgent treatment.
Here is what you should do right away:
�� Immediate steps
Go to the health clinic immediately. Even though it is an hour away on foot, it is the safest and best option. Severe dehydration in a baby needs treatment with fluids given by health workers, sometimes into the vein.
Do NOT go to the traditional healer. They cannot provide the life-saving treatment your baby needs right now.
Do NOT give leftover medicines or Coca-Cola. These can be harmful and will not treat dehydration. Coca-Cola especially is dangerous for infants.
While you travel to the clinic
Continue breastfeeding as often as possible. Breast milk is very important.
Give safe fluids if the child can still swallow. The best is oral rehydration solution (ORS). If you don’t have ORS, you can make a home solution:
Mix 1 liter clean water + 6 level teaspoons of sugar + ½ level teaspoon of salt.
Stir well. Taste: it should be no saltier than tears.
Give small sips frequently, even if the child vomits.
If the child is too weak to drink, don’t force — just go as fast as possible to the clinic.
Summary
✅ Continue breastfeeding.
✅ Give ORS or homemade sugar-salt solution on the way, if she can swallow.
❌ Do not give Coca-Cola.
❌ Do not give leftover medicines.
❌ Do not waste time with the traditional healer.
�� Go urgently to the health clinic, even if it’s far — your child’s life depends on it.
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(I would be interested to learn how well ChatGPT would perform if the text was entered in Luganda or Swahili, or indeed if the question was spoken to the microphone on a mobile phone in a local language.)
Charlotte Blease's book is titled 'Dr Bot: Why Doctors Can Fail Us and How AI Could Save Lives'
I would go much further: AI WILL Save Lives. Many lives. Perhaps, over the next few years, it will contribute to millions of lives saved.
Around 5 million children under five years old die annually. That's around 14,000 deaths every day, or ten every minute. Poor or delayed healthcare decisions and actions, whether by parents or by health workers, are a major contributor to these deaths. AI has the potential to transform healthcare decisions in the home and the community.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org