a2i organized Workshop on Application of AI Technology in Maternal Healthcare

Women face various problems in getting maternal health care in the country. Artificial intelligence-AI technology can play a role in improving healthcare by reducing these complications in accessing care during pregnancy and post-natal care. Innovative technologies can be useful in maternity healthcare.

Aspire to Innovate-a2i organized a Country Workshop on how this technology can be useful in the national healthcare of the country, what challenges can be faced, what can be done to provide better healthcare by avoiding obstacles.

The day-long workshop was organized at the conference hall of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) in the capital on Tuesday.

Secretary of Health Services Department Dr. M. Anwar Hossain Howlader virtually joined the workshop as the chief guest. Project Director (Joint Secretary) of a2i Dr. Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir and Policy Advisor Anir Chowdhury were present as special guests.

Two policy research papers on ‘AI for Social Good’ were presented by the research teams of Huai Pacific University and the National University of Singapore under the auspices of Aspire to Innovate (a2i) Program, Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), Google and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

How this policy research paper will play a helpful role in the application of artificial intelligence at the national level in the health services of the country and what kind of technical complications this research result can lead to in pregnancy monitoring risk analysis and what can be done to resolve the complications were highlighted in the workshop.

The purpose of the workshop was to socialize the findings of the research paper among the public and private partners present in the day-long event and take forward the research findings and identify key points for early inclusion in government policy on the application of artificial intelligence in pregnancy monitoring and policy action.

Two research papers on pregnancy monitoring were presented in the workshop, including ‘Mobilizing AI for Maternal Health in Bangladesh’ by Dr. Olivia Jensen and ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Pregnancy Monitoring: Technical Challenges of Bangladesh’ by Dr. Arif Rahman. The researchers shed light on how the government can coordinate and use this technology in the field of healthcare and what policy decisions the government can take in this regard.

The paper tries to look at the potential benefits of introducing AI technology based pregnancy monitoring system in Bangladesh to improve maternal health. Currently, monitoring of pregnant women in Bangladesh is not systematic, many women are deprived of this service for various reasons. An AI-enabled technology has the potential to improve the health outcomes of pregnant women through continuous monitoring, but requires large amounts of data. Although the Electronic Health Record/Electronic Medical Record (EHR/EMR) system is the best way to record data in healthcare, Bangladesh still does not have a universal EHR system. Bangladesh plans to implement a universal EHR system by 2025, It is a time consuming process. This study examines the current maternal health care infrastructure in Bangladesh, identifies opportunities for using AI technology, and recommends next steps for the government to implement AI-based pregnancy monitoring services to mitigate the identified challenges.

Speakers at the workshop said that there is an opportunity to improve national healthcare including maternal healthcare by using artificial intelligence technology in the country. However, there are some technical and infrastructural challenges in this regard. There is no alternative to these developments in the development of national healthcare. Meanwhile, the guests suggested to enact a policy law on the use of artificial intelligence technology for the development of healthcare.

Meanwhile, the line director of the MIS department of the Department of Health Dr. Professor Shahadat Hossain, the line director of the MNC and AH department M. Sayeduzzaman, Line Director of MIS Division of Directorate of Family Planning Sabina Parveen along with Directorate of Health, Directorate of Family Planning, Public Health Specialist of a2i Dr. Shabnam Mostari, Mohammad Raihanul Haque and a2i Program, Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), Google and United Nations Economic and 50 officials from Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology were present.