Google funding boosts maternal, child health
Jacaranda Health, Kenya-based non-profit making organization is among the 15 entities in Africa that benefitted from the $25 million funding from Google to promote maternal health.
Head of Technology at Jacaranda Health Jay Patel said they received $1.2 million (Sh176 million) in grant from the funds and additional support from Google’s philanthropic arm, Google.org, to extend lifesaving AI-driven support to underserved mothers in Kenya, and the wider Sub-Sahara Africa.
Patel said the grant signified a major milestone in empowering the organization in touching the lives of more mothers in Kenya through digital solution PROMPTS to facilitate safe maternal health and ensuring newborns receive a secure and healthy start in life.
He said PROMPTS supports new and expectant mothers to access care through free SMS messages that improved rapid provision of health services during and after pregnancy, and rapid, targeted referral for potentially-high risk cases. This project marks Jacaranda’s next big step in AI innovation.
“With Google funding, Jacaranda’s 100 per cent Kenyan technology team will develop and deploy a first-in-kind generative AI model capable of offering context-sensitive information to women in multiple African languages and dialects, and rapidly detecting life-threatening risks before it’s too late,” said Patel.
