Tag: who

  • First of its type well being care AI competitors launched in CT

    First of its type well being care AI competitors launched in CT

    Synthetic Intelligence continues to create wonderful advances in well being care, however with out people fueling it, there is no such thing as a synthetic intelligence.

    So Yale New Haven Well being is holding a Well being AI Championship by inviting Connecticut well being techniques to take part in a first-of-its-kind competitors within the state.

    The Yale New Haven Well being Middle for Well being Care Innovation launched the Well being AI Championship, a contest designed to showcase groundbreaking functions of synthetic intelligence in well being care. Innovators from well being techniques and hospitals throughout Connecticut are invited to showcase their concepts.

    As much as eight proposals will obtain funding, with a most award of $100,000 for first prize.

    Contributors can even have the chance to refine and strengthen their improvements with skilled mentorship and strategic help, officers stated.

    “We’re thrilled to launch the Well being AI Championship at a time when AI’s potential to revolutionize healthcare has by no means been larger,” stated Dr. Lee Schwamm, chief digital well being officer, YNHHS and affiliate dean, Digital Technique and Transformation, Yale Faculty of Medication.

    Dr. Lee Schwamm, chief digital health officer, YNHHS and associate dean, Digital Strategy and Transformation, Yale School of Medicine.
    Dr. Lee Schwamm, chief digital well being officer, YNHHS and affiliate dean, Digital Technique and Transformation, Yale Faculty of Medication. (Contributed)

    “By inviting innovators to share cutting-edge concepts, we’re not solely fostering collaboration but additionally paving the best way for real-world functions that may considerably enhance affected person outcomes and streamline healthcare operations.”

    The competitors is open to staff and college affiliated with hospitals and well being techniques in Connecticut.

    Six hospitals have already dedicated to collaborating within the Yale New Haven Well being’s AI Championship, together with Connecticut Youngsters’s Medical Middle, Gaylord Hospital, Nuvance Well being, Hartford HealthCare and UConn Well being.

    Walter Lindop, a YNHH Middle for Well being Care Innovation chief, stated they’re “very a lot centered on utilizing AI responsibly and ethically.”

    “There’s large potential to be transformative,” he stated. “It (AI) will help enhance outcomes and high quality of care. It could possibly increase scientific care.”

    He stated A1 improvements can provide docs extra time to spend with sufferers by slicing down on administrative duties and different work sufferers don’t see that docs do on their circumstances.

    Lindop stated concerning the competition they’re notably within the areas of rehabilitation and restoration; acute and important care; power illness administration; preventative care.

    “We hope submissions will sort out any certainly one of these areas,” he stated. “This competitors is an unprecedented alternative to carry collectively well being care and expertise leaders. We have to make a tangible distinction in hospital and well being care facilities in Connecticut.”

    Schwamm stated AI makes options primarily based on calculating all the info it may possibly course of, however not choices as it may possibly’t infer.

    Just a few examples of how generative AI will help Schwamm stated:

    • Evaluation to evaluate additional threat of coronary heart assault;
    • Throughout a colonoscopy suspicious areas will be highlighted in actual time and get a re-assessment;
    • It could possibly detect retina injury early in these with diabetes and subsequently one thing will be executed earlier than it’s too late;
    • Within the case of Parkinson’s it may possibly establish actions in sufferers, rely tremors, gather knowledge;
    • It could possibly take a look at elements in a mammogram extra carefully and decide if it’s extra possible most cancers or an infection.

    “For all this work there’s a human within the loop,” Schwamm stated.

    He stated images was as soon as a mechanical artwork, however now nobody shoots straight mechanical as a result of there’s expertise concerned for sharper pictures.

    For AI’s half, “It’s the equal of studying each guide on the topic,” he stated. “However AI can’t infer. It could possibly say this seems like a sample I’ve seen earlier than.”

    A1 can be very mistaken, he stated, even figuring out studying materials that doesn’t exist or developing s up with a justification sample that doesn’t lean on something that is sensible.

    “It’s like somebody whispering options in your ear throughout a trivia contest. it invokes your thought course of,” Schwamm stated. “It’s simply one other voice.”

    The aim of the competition is to encourage innovators to come back ahead with their finest concepts, he stated.

    innovators, researchers, and healthcare professionals can go to for detailed info on eligibility, submission pointers and key dates.

    The competitors is funded by a grant from ARPA-H.

  • UN health agencies partner to stem cholera outbreak in Sudan

    UN health agencies partner to stem cholera outbreak in Sudan

    As a cholera outbreak worsens in Sudan, UNICEF reports the heightened risk to thousands of children and works with other health agencies to protect those at risk in a country already devastated by ongoing violent conflict.

    By Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

    In response to a rapidly growing cholera outbreak threatening thousands of lives, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has teamed up with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Sudanese Ministry of Health to curb the spread of the disease and protect vulnerable children.

    A UNICEF report highlights that “over 292,000 children are at risk of cholera in White Nile State, Sudan,” and more than 500 children are among the 2,700 cholera cases reported between 1 January and 24 February 2025.

    Due to this concern, the UN agencies have ramped up interventions to curb the outbreak, and on 21 February, they “launched a six-day cholera vaccination campaign in the localities of Kosti and Rabak in White Nile.”

    Additionally, UNICEF has provided cholera treatment kits and is supporting the deployment of frontline workers to Cholera Treatment Centers to strengthen care. They are also supporting the training of public health workers in infection prevention monitoring and community members to monitor the situation on the ground.

    According to the report, the campaign aims to reach over one million people with oral cholera vaccines.

    Why rapid rise in cholera cases

    With cholera cases surging in affected regions of Sudan, the UN agencies together with the Federal Ministry of Health and humanitarian partners note that “a major power outage, following attacks on power plants on 16 February, cut off water supplies in the localities of Kosti and Rabak in White Nile State, forcing many families to collect untreated water from the White Nile River.”

    They also disclosed that limited or no access to safe drinking water, coupled with a sharp drop in vaccination rates, is worsening the crisis and heightening the risk of cholera, particularly in displacement camps and overcrowded urban centers.

    Generally, White Nile State hosts an estimated 650,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) as well as 400,000 refugees. In this case, population movements at the border with South Sudan add further challenges to controlling the outbreak.

    Cholera is a life-threatening disease for children

    According to UNICEF Representative in Sudan, Sheldon Yett, cholera poses a serious threat to children’s lives and can lead to death within hours if not treated quickly.

    “The ongoing destruction of critical humanitarian infrastructure has left no child safe in this war,” he said. “If children are denied access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, and information to prevent the spread of cholera, the epidemic will sadly continue.”

    Since Kosti region seems most affected, with an estimated 292,000 children who are potentially at risk, UNICEF “has provided fuel and water treatment chemicals to support the operation of the primary water treatment plant, providing access to safe water to approximately 150,000 people.”

    Subsequently, “UNICEF and partners are also distributing life-saving water, sanitation, and hygiene supplies in affected locations to ensure access to safe water and strengthen good practices.”

    At the same time, they are “engaging communities, through discussions and social media, to spread key messages on the causes, symptoms, and prevention of cholera.”

    Mr. Yett warned that disease outbreaks, such as this cholera crisis, can overwhelm fragile health systems and strain already weakened sanitation infrastructure.

    While addressing the immediate emergency is crucial, he continued, “we must invest in strengthening the systems that underpin the services children need.”