Global digital health innovator Qure.ai today announced that it has received a multimillion-dollar grant from the Gates Foundation to advance health equity by improving access to timely, high-quality diagnostics for some of the world’s most preventable infectious diseases.
The grant will enable Qure.ai to develop a large, open-source, multi-modal global health database aimed at accelerating innovation in disease prevention and early detection. The initiative will support WHO-aligned lung health diagnostic pathways and incorporate non-identifiable clinical histories, medical imaging data—including Chest X-rays, Thoracic Ultrasound, and High-Resolution CT scans—as well as cough and lung sound recordings, and laboratory or biological markers. This comprehensive dataset will empower researchers and innovators worldwide to develop, validate, and refine next-generation AI models for global health impact.
As part of the initiative, Qure.ai will also develop AI-enabled point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) algorithms to support the early detection of tuberculosis (TB) and pneumonia, two of the world’s deadliest yet preventable and treatable infectious diseases, particularly in under-resourced regions. TB claims approximately 1.23 million lives annually, while pneumonia causes nearly 2 million deaths each year, including 700,000 children under the age of five—despite both diseases being curable when diagnosed early.
Commenting on the development, Prashant Warier, Founder and CEO, Qure.ai, said,
“In our bid to reach the unreachable, we have spent the last decade deploying AI-enabled X-ray solutions in some of the most remote regions of the world—from sub-Saharan Africa to the heights of Everest and rural Southeast Asia—transforming TB detection and diagnosis. This work has reduced diagnosis timelines from 14 days to just 1–2 days, often without a clinician present. With this grant from the Gates Foundation, we are excited to build on this expertise and scale our impact to reach even more communities.”
Dr. Shibu Vijayan, Chief Medical Officer – Global Health, Qure.ai, added,
“By leveraging the latest advancements in digital health and artificial intelligence, Qure.ai is addressing healthcare’s blind spots—bringing high-quality diagnostics within reach of every clinic, health worker, and child, regardless of geography.”
Highlighting the urgency of the initiative, Dr. Justy Antony Chiramal, Project Lead and Clinical Director, Global Health Innovation, Qure.ai, said,
“This grant allows us to build on years of continuous innovation in public health and push the boundaries of what AI can do for global health. By bringing together tuberculosis, pneumonia, and broader lung health priorities—especially for children in low- and middle-income countries—we are addressing an urgent need. A child dies of pneumonia every 43 seconds, a loss that is both unacceptable and preventable, underscoring the critical need for better diagnostics and equitable access to care.”
Qure.ai is a global digital health leader with deployments across 105+ countries and over 4,800 healthcare sites worldwide, supporting the detection and management of tuberculosis, lung cancer, and neurocritical conditions such as stroke through AI-powered solutions.
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