Polio Antenna

Overview

Polio Antenna is an AI-powered mobile surveillance tool transforming how frontline health workers detect and respond to polio outbreaks across underserved communities helping protect children before the virus spreads.

Polio remains a persistent threat in low-resource settings, where delayed detection and fragmented reporting between households, health officers, and national surveillance systems can allow outbreaks to escalate. Community health officers often lack the tools to flag suspected cases quickly, and parents have little guidance on when and how to act.

Polio Antenna addresses this by equipping community health officers with a mobile app for use during home visits. Officers capture videos and photos of children with suspected cases, which are analyzed by AI in real time with results immediately reported to health officials, surveillance teams, and organizations such as the WHO. The app also empowers parents to report symptoms directly and receive instant guidance, strengthening the link between households and national health systems. All data collection is conducted with explicit parental consent, ensuring child protection and privacy are upheld throughout.

By accelerating detection, improving coordination, and embedding responsible data practices from the ground up, Polio Antenna offers a scalable, community-centered model for AI-driven disease surveillance one that could meaningfully reduce outbreak response times and help protect the most vulnerable children from a preventable disease.