Background: In an attempt to redress long-standing injustice to mineworkers from the South African gold mines, a collaboration between the gold mining industry and state agencies was commenced — and has been previously described (links). One component of this collaboration was the development of an extensive database of claims and…

The fourth “Sprint” of the AI4TB pilot met the challenges thrust upon all by the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, several key advancements and learnings emerged. The main message we took from our work is that there is a limit to what could be done with old technology; but, at least theoretically…

In the third “Sprint” of the AI4TB pilot, we learned a lot in efforts to evaluate the use of computer-assisted detection (CAD) to identify the presence of tuberculosis (TB) and silicosis in radiological images. Three specific key learnings emerged: 1- Not all AI providers could streamline assessments We had assumed…

As explained previously [link to previous blog post: Harnessing artificial intelligence systems to detect tuberculosis among ex-miners in South Africa], vast numbers of people from across southern Africa who came to work in South Africa’s gold mines were left with devastating occupational lung disease — particularly silicosis and tuberculosis (TB)…

Heads of state worldwide gathered in New York on September 26, 2018 at the United Nations General Assembly explicitly to accelerate efforts to tackle tuberculosis (TB). An estimated 10 million people developed TB disease in 2017 and TB remains the top infectious cause of death globally. There is growing interest…