Climate change poses an escalating health crisis in Africa, exacerbating the continent’s already fragile healthcare systems. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation contribute to the spread of vector-borne diseases, food insecurity, and infrastructure damage, worsening health outcomes. In response to these challenges, this chapter explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance healthcare access and service delivery during climate-related emergencies. The chapter employs a narrative review approach, synthesizing peer-reviewed articles, policy documents, and reports from international organizations to examine the intersection of climate change, healthcare challenges, and AI-driven solutions. The findings highlight AI’s potential in predictive analytics, disease surveillance, telemedicine, resource allocation, and early warning systems, all of which are crucial in mitigating the health impact of climate change in Africa. AI-powered predictive models can forecast disease outbreaks, optimize emergency response, and improve healthcare accessibility in remote areas, particularly during climate-induced disasters. Despite these benefits, AI integration in African healthcare systems faces significant barriers, including limited technological infrastructure, high implementation costs, data privacy concerns, and a lack of skilled AI professionals. This chapter contributes to the ongoing discourse on climate-resilient healthcare systems, emphasizing the need for policy frameworks, public–private partnerships, increased investment in AI infrastructure, and capacity building to harness AI’s full potential. Through the integration of AI-driven solutions, Africa’s healthcare sector can become more adaptive, proactive, and resilient in the face of climate-related health crises, ensuring better health outcomes and sustainable development.

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Digital Health and Climate: Exploring How Artificial Intelligence Can Improve Access to Healthcare Services During the Climate Crisis in Africa

  • Obasanjo Bolarinwa,
  • Aliu Mohammed,
  • David Bamidele Olawade

摘要

Climate change poses an escalating health crisis in Africa, exacerbating the continent’s already fragile healthcare systems. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation contribute to the spread of vector-borne diseases, food insecurity, and infrastructure damage, worsening health outcomes. In response to these challenges, this chapter explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance healthcare access and service delivery during climate-related emergencies. The chapter employs a narrative review approach, synthesizing peer-reviewed articles, policy documents, and reports from international organizations to examine the intersection of climate change, healthcare challenges, and AI-driven solutions. The findings highlight AI’s potential in predictive analytics, disease surveillance, telemedicine, resource allocation, and early warning systems, all of which are crucial in mitigating the health impact of climate change in Africa. AI-powered predictive models can forecast disease outbreaks, optimize emergency response, and improve healthcare accessibility in remote areas, particularly during climate-induced disasters. Despite these benefits, AI integration in African healthcare systems faces significant barriers, including limited technological infrastructure, high implementation costs, data privacy concerns, and a lack of skilled AI professionals. This chapter contributes to the ongoing discourse on climate-resilient healthcare systems, emphasizing the need for policy frameworks, public–private partnerships, increased investment in AI infrastructure, and capacity building to harness AI’s full potential. Through the integration of AI-driven solutions, Africa’s healthcare sector can become more adaptive, proactive, and resilient in the face of climate-related health crises, ensuring better health outcomes and sustainable development.