AI for Public Health Challenge

The Global Health & Digital Innovation Foundation (GHDIF) is launching a major new competition for UK tech start-ups. 

Participants are invited to showcase cutting-edge Generative AI solutions that empower individuals to take an active role in managing their health—while directly addressing how climate change is reshaping health risks and outcomes. 

The challenge encourages new ways of thinking about the dynamic interplay between genetics, environment, and disease.

We see AI as a tool that can support better public health bringing together different types of data in fair and inclusive ways. By improving how we use data at the population level, AI can help prevent disease and promote more equitable health care.

AI has the potential to transform healthcare—both by supporting the healthcare workforce with patient decisions and by informing system-level policy and planning.

However this potential is not being realised. Why?
 

The complexity of health—shaped by genetics, environmental exposure, and varied responses to treatment—makes it challenging to determine what works best, and for whom.

Clinical AI tools have been falling short of capturing this diversity and complexity, challenging their impact in real-world applications.

Generative AI offers a new path forward. It can synthesise data across healthcare, life sciences, climate, and environmental domains—creating population-level intelligence that can be embedded directly into care pathways and health systems.

The Global Health Digital Innovation Foundation (GHDIF) is committed to addressing these challenges and is launching the AI for Public Health (AI4PH) Challenge to drive meaningful change.

UK-based AI start-ups are invited to apply their technologies to enhance care delivery, particularly for populations most at risk from climate-related health impacts.

The challenge is domain-agnostic. However, participants will be asked to demonstrate how Generative AI can:

• Synthesise diverse datasets to generate actionable insights
• Combine qualitative and quantitative data to enable patient-centred decision-making
• Deliver scalable, intuitive health navigation tools
• Support the healthcare workforce in delivering more adaptive, responsive care
• Make innovative use of LLMs that integrate context-specific knowledge at key patient journey touchpoints. 

This competition aims to showcase how Generative AI can transform complex, cross-sector population health data into practical insights that improve care delivery.

By addressing the climate–health navigation challenge, competitors will help design flexible care models that empower both patients and providers—strengthening system resilience and advancing health equity.

We are seeking sponsorship from between one and four organisations which would become founding partners for the Prize. If interested please get in touch.