AI tools developed to tackle maternal mortality

LAHORE: Pakistan’s maternal mortality rate, estimated at approximately 186 deaths per 100, 000 live births, has remained unchanged for more than a decade due to shortages of skilled health workers, weak referral systems and delays in managing complications. To address these persistent challenges, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hub at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), led by Dr Maryam Mustafa with support from the Gates Foundation, is developing AI-powered tools aimed at shifting maternal healthcare from reactive treatment to predictive and preventive care. The initiative is being implemented across five key verticals, including referral pathway mapping across Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, development of context-specific AI tools, creation of regional language datasets, validation of systems and integration with government health services. Its flagship platform, Awaaz-e-Sehat, allows women to create digitised health records through WhatsApp in regional languages such as Pashto, Sindhi and Saraiki. The tools have been designed to function on basic Android smart phones with offline capability to ensure access for women in remote and underserved areas. Dr Mustafa highlighted three major challenges facing the initiative: the absence of quality rural health data, poor connectivity and infrastructure, and the need for long-term sustainability beyond donor-funded grant cycles. She stressed that meaningful government co-ownership would be critical for the programme’s success and expressed confidence that Pakistan could emerge as a global reference model for AI-driven healthcare in resource-constrained settings within the next five years. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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