El Salvador Adds New Tools in National Health App to Track and Treat (DoctorSV) (ticotimes.net)

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced the launch of the second phase of Dr. SV, a public health app developed with Google Cloud that leverages AI based on the Gemini model to diagnose and monitor chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension. The app aims to enhance healthcare accessibility by offering free 24-hour medical consultations, digital clinical records, and personalized treatment follow-ups, particularly targeting the 3 million Salvadorans living with undiagnosed chronic conditions. Key updates include the introduction of algorithms for risk assessment, automated lab orders, and appointment reminders, ensuring that health management becomes proactive rather than reactive. Significantly, Dr. SV represents a pioneering effort in utilizing AI for public health, processing around 18,000 calls daily with a capacity of 30,000, and achieving a remarkable user satisfaction rate of 97%. This initiative not only demonstrates the effectiveness of AI in improving diagnostic accuracy—reportedly reaching 93%—but also forms part of a broader seven-year partnership with Google, which includes a commitment of $500 million for advancing digital government services. Bukele envisions further expansions of the platform to treat conditions like cancer, highlighting the long-term goal of ensuring comprehensive care for all Salvadorans with chronic ailments.