East Africa researchers employ AI to address mental health crisis

East Africa researchers employ AI to address mental health crisis
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Researchers in East Africa are using artificial intelligence to help address a growing mental health crisis by training chatbots to recognize distress in local languages, according to a report by The Guardian.

At Butabika National Referral Mental Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, calls to a mental health helpline are being anonymised and analysed to train an AI system that could eventually power a therapy chatbot. The project is led by the Makerere University AI Lab, in collaboration with Butabika hospital and Mirembe hospital in neighbouring Tanzania.

Experts say the initiative aims to overcome major barriers to care. Around one in 10 people in Africa experiences mental health difficulties, but the region faces a severe shortage of specialists and widespread stigma. Many patients also lack access to services in their own languages.

Researchers are analysing how callers describe emotional distress in languages such as Luganda and Swahili, noting that clinical terms often do not exist or are not commonly used. The AI system is designed to identify warning signs and help escalate cases that may need specialist follow-up.

The long-term goal is to deliver basic mental health support through chatbots, potentially via SMS for people without smartphones or internet access. Regulators and global health organisations supporting the work stress that strong safeguards will be needed to ensure such tools are safe, effective, and culturally appropriate.