BRN IGNITE Grant helps researcher develop AI tool for community-based disease surveillance in Ethiopia 

When Gelan Ayana Zewdie was growing up near Bedele in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, his community became deeply concerned when a neighbour’s child fell ill. A community member shared the news with a health official, prompting a visit that confirmed a polio case. The visit led to Zewdie and other children receiving the polio vaccine. 

“Now, as a researcher, the experience shows how valuable community-based health information is in guiding the actions and interventions of health officials, especially in remote communities,” says Zewdie, a Provost Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) recipient working in the Artificial Intelligence and Mathematical Modeling Lab (AIMMLab) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH). 

Influenced by that experience, Zewdie is developing Haqila – which means “intellectual,” “wise” or “expert” in Afaan Oromoo – an AI-powered mobile application for pastoralist and semi-pastoralist communities in Ethiopia. The app aims to improve disease detection, reporting and information sharing, enabling faster health interventions. 

“This project is a way for me to use my skills to give back to my country,” Zewdie says. 

“The meanings behind the word Haqila are deeply rooted in the cultural values I grew up with – knowledge, wisdom and social responsibility. The app’s name reflects my commitment to working at the intersection of technology and health to address some of the most pressing challenges facing underserved communities.” 

With support from the BRN IGNITE Grant, Zewdie is pilot-testing the app in Ethiopia with local health officers. Supervised by Jude Kong, an assistant professor at DLSPH, the app was co-created with Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health, Jimma University, regional health facilities, community volunteers and local NGOs. Haqila is currently being tested with 28 active users in eight districts in the Jimma Zone. 

Ethiopia implemented community-based disease surveillance almost two decades ago. It has improved reporting in implementation areas by about 30 per cent and now accounts for roughly one-third of all national case reports. 

Zewdie explains that health and disease data from communities and health systems are often fragmented because they operate in silos. While residents can call a hotline to report illnesses, there is no reliable system to integrate that information for health officers, making it harder to track outbreaks or plan responses. 

“This information isn’t streamlined into the health system, and sometimes information in case reports is left blank by users, which means data can’t be analyzed properly by health officers,” says Zewdie, who also serves as Ethiopia hub director of the Artificial Intelligence for Pandemic and Epidemic Preparedness and Response Network (AI4PEP). 

Haqila’s dashboard will make it easier for health officials to spot disease outbreaks.

In Haqila, authorized users can write and upload a short report about their health issue and include a photo or video to illustrate their concern. To address fragmented data, all health-reporting and demographic fields are mandatory. 

The AI system then analyzes the data and alerts a nearby health officer to respond. In the meantime, the app provides users with basic information on mitigation measures. 

The app also works offline. If a user doesn’t have internet access, it collects the information, stores it locally and sends the report to health officials once a connection is restored. 

The tool can be used to identify cases of polio, measles and mpox. It also captures basic location data to identify emerging case clusters, which will be visualized in a dashboard developed for this purpose. The app currently supports Amharic, Afaan Oromo and English. 

“The hope with the dashboard is that the analysis results will help decision makers and health officers determine if there is an outbreak and assist in planning to control outbreaks that do happen,” Zewdie says. 

Zewdie hopes to expand the app’s capacity to include early cancer screening and add an audio-recording feature. 

The BRN IGNITE Grant enabled him to travel to Ethiopia to strengthen project partnerships and attend international conferences where he presented his work. 

“This grant came at the perfect time for my career development,” Zewdie says. “It allowed me to build a professional network, present my work at conferences and access resources that will help me work toward meaningful research impact.”