The acceleration of data and digital technology is transforming healthcare globally. The use of Artificial intelligence (AI) in particular has accelerated significantly in the past year, creating never before seen possibilities but also raising questions and concerns.

We can see the impact of AI in examples like claims management and risk identification of vulnerable patient groups. For several years, we’ve seen the impact of AI on medical image analysis, supporting radiologists in spotting anomalies.

PharmAccess is using AI for patient journeys to understand the patients better – for example, to estimate their risk of dropping off their medication adherence. Knowing who is likely to miss a prenatal appointment or which people with a fever diagnosis have the highest risk of malaria can help to direct interventions and optimize the use of scarce resources.

But what about the health data powering these AI tools? Data sovereignty is an increasingly important topic: in a patient-centric healthcare system, citizens should have agency over their own health data. Patients need to share health data in many ways, but they should be able to trust that it’s only being used for specific purposes. Rather than leaving health data in the hands – and profit margins – of big tech companies, it should be protected for the public good.

With the rise of AI technology, public–private partnerships are becoming even more important: technology will always be in the hands of private companies, which makes public data infrastructure critical for data sovereignty. We believe the way forward is to establish local data cooperatives, giving citizens the ability to control who can access it and for what purpose, and the ability to retract that consent.

Data sovereignty is critical for all countries. The benefit of north-south collaboration is that we can accelerate the development of the systems and approaches needed. In 2024, PharmAccess made progress towards this goal, by showing we can put patients at the center of their own care journeys, such as with MomCare, and that these can generate valuable and shareable health data.

AI will not replace doctors, but on a continent where healthcare workers are scarce, it can support better healthcare for individual patients and for public health to save lives. We believe that transformative system innovations powered by technology can ensure more patients can access better care with the available resources. This will create opportunities for Dutch technology companies to fast-track innovations for global health, but equally to bring African innovation to Europe.

At the same time, 2024 was not an easy year. Big shifts in the global geopolitical and economic landscape have had significant impacts on the African continent, affecting the financing of its health systems, as well as their access to medications. This has underlined what we have been working towards for many years: local ownership, enabling of the Dutch trade agenda, and equal partnerships, including with the private sector.

I want to end by thanking our partners, funders, and friends for enabling and amplifying our work. A special thank you for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs: only through public-private partnerships can we achieve universal healthcare. And last but not least, thank you to the fabulous PharmAccess, SafeCare, and Medical Credit Fund teams, making the impossible possible because they care!

Nicole Spieker, PharmAccess CEO