The adoption of artificial intelligence in public health requires assessing institutional capacities, governance, infrastructure, and readiness for its responsible implementation.
The PAHO Readiness Assessment Tool for Artificial Intelligence in Public Health helps identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities to support the adoption of artificial intelligence within health systems.
The approach proposes a comprehensive assessment that considers aspects related to governance, digital infrastructure, technical capacities, data management, regulation, ethics, and institutional readiness for the responsible use of emerging technologies.
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AI-GUARD Tool: Governance and Use Assessment for Responsible Deployment
AI-GUARD is a tool developed by PAHO and the IDB to help decision-makers at all levels of health institutions assess the readiness and risk profile of any AI initiative before its adoption, procurement, development or scale-up.
AI-GUARD is a structured, tiered instrument designed to:
- Assess the strategic public health value of AI initiatives.
- Identify risk exposure and potential impact.
- Assess institutional governance and operational readiness.
- Identify and mitigate bias and equity-related concerns.
- Strengthen transparency, accountability and responsible deployment.
The tool promotes disciplined, evidence-based decision-making while enabling innovation aligned with public health priorities.
The Four Core Pillars of AI-GUARD
1
Governance and accountability
Assesses the definition of responsibilities, oversight mechanisms, incident management and transparency in updates to artificial intelligence solutions.
2
Human use and control
Considers human intervention, override capability, user training, integration into workflows and accountability for final decisions.
3
Safeguards against risks and bias
Examines data representativeness, performance across different subgroups, the use of proxy variables, equity metrics and continuous monitoring to identify and mitigate bias.
4
Implementation readiness
Reviews the robustness of testing, validation status, monitoring plans, drift detection and the sustainability of the solution over time.
Artificial Intelligence in Public Health: Readiness Assessment Toolkit
This toolkit provides a structured approach to assessing a country’s readiness to implement AI projects in public health. Each question is designed to facilitate discussion and planning by identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
What does the toolkit assess?
The toolkit makes it possible to analyse different dimensions that influence the readiness of countries and institutions to adopt artificial intelligence in public health in a responsible, safe and sustainable manner.
Governance and leadership
Assesses institutional capacity to define priorities, coordinate stakeholders, and guide policies related to artificial intelligence in health.
Infrastructure and technology
Considers the availability of digital infrastructure, connectivity, interoperability, and technological capacities needed to implement AI solutions.
Data and information management
Analyzes the quality, availability, protection, and governance of the data required for the development and use of artificial intelligence in health.
Capabilities and human talent
Identifies technical skills, professional profiles, and institutional capacities needed to design, implement, and oversee AI solutions.
Ethics and regulation
Reviews the existence of regulatory frameworks, transparency mechanisms, data protection, equity, and human oversight.
Implementation and sustainability
Assesses the conditions required to integrate artificial intelligence solutions into real health system processes and sustain them over time.
How to use the toolkit?
The tool is designed to support institutional assessment and planning processes related to the adoption of artificial intelligence in public health. Its application helps identify existing capacities, recognize gaps, and prioritize strengthening actions.
1
Review dimensions
Analyze the areas included in the assessment and the associated criteria.
2
Complete assessment
Identify institutional strengths and challenges related to AI.
3
Identify gaps
Recognize priority areas to strengthen capacities and processes.
4
Prioritize actions
Define lines of work to advance readiness and governance.
5
Plan implementation
Guide sustainable processes for integrating AI into public health.
Readiness levels
The tool helps identify different levels of institutional readiness to adopt artificial intelligence in public health, supporting action planning and the progressive strengthening of capacities.
1
Initial
Institutional and technological capacities are limited. Challenges exist in governance, infrastructure, data, and human resources.
2
Developing
Partial progress is observed in digital transformation, data management, and the definition of institutional AI frameworks.
3
Advanced
The institution has more consolidated capacities in infrastructure, governance, and the strategic use of data for AI solutions.
4
Consolidated
Artificial intelligence is sustainably integrated into public health processes through ethical, interoperable, and people-centered approaches.