Trust & Safety

Our commitment to clinical safety, data protection, and responsible AI in healthcare.

Our Safety Commitment

HealthGrid Africa provides AI-powered health triage guidance. We take our responsibility seriously and are transparent about what we do and do not do.

Important: HealthGrid provides health guidance and triage recommendations only. We do not diagnose medical conditions, prescribe medications, or replace professional medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare providers for medical decisions.

Clinical Governance

Our clinical governance framework ensures safe and appropriate health guidance.

Medical Advisory Oversight

Our triage algorithms and health guidance are developed and reviewed under the oversight of our Medical Advisory Board, chaired by Prof. Izu Nwachukwu. The board includes licensed physicians with experience in Nigerian healthcare delivery.

Triage Logic Review

  • Initial Development: Triage pathways are developed based on established clinical guidelines and reviewed by medical advisors before deployment
  • Ongoing Review: Triage logic is reviewed quarterly or when clinical guidelines change
  • Edge Case Analysis: We regularly analyse conversations that resulted in unexpected outcomes

What We Do Not Do

  • We do not diagnose medical conditions
  • We do not prescribe or recommend specific medications
  • We do not provide treatment plans
  • We do not replace consultation with licensed healthcare providers

Safety Testing

We test our AI system to help ensure safe and appropriate responses.

Red Flag Symptom Detection

Our system is trained to recognise potentially serious symptoms (red flags) and will always direct users to seek immediate medical attention when warranted. We test these scenarios regularly to verify appropriate escalation.

Language Edge Cases

We test across all five supported languages (English, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Pidgin) to help ensure consistent triage quality regardless of language used.

AI Safety Controls

  • Responses are constrained to health triage guidance only
  • The system is designed to refuse inappropriate requests
  • We monitor for unusual patterns that might indicate misuse
  • Regular testing for response quality and safety

Note: No AI system is perfect. We continuously work to improve safety and accuracy, but users should always apply their own judgement and seek professional medical advice for health concerns.

Human Escalation

While Jewel provides AI-powered triage, human oversight is built into our process.

When Humans Are Involved

  • Emergency Detection: When our system detects potential emergencies, we clearly direct users to call emergency services (199, 112, or 767) or visit the nearest hospital immediately
  • Provider Referrals: When appropriate, we connect users with licensed healthcare providers in our network
  • Support Escalation: Users can request human support for issues with the service itself

Emergency Numbers

In case of medical emergency:

  • 199 - National Emergency Number
  • 112 - Universal Emergency Number
  • 767 - LASEMA (Lagos State Emergency)

Incident Response

We take reports of harm or safety concerns seriously.

How to Report Safety Concerns

If you believe you received inappropriate health guidance or experienced harm related to our service, please report it immediately:

What Happens When You Report

  1. Acknowledgement: We aim to acknowledge safety reports within 24 hours
  2. Investigation: Our team reviews the conversation and triage pathway
  3. Action: If we identify an issue, we take corrective action which may include updating triage logic
  4. Follow-up: We will update you on the outcome of our investigation

Data Protection

We implement security measures to protect your health information.

Security Measures

  • Encryption: Data is encrypted in transit and at rest
  • Access Controls: Strict limits on who can access user data
  • Audit Logging: We maintain logs of data access for accountability
  • Secure Infrastructure: Hosted on cloud infrastructure with security certifications

Data Retention

  • Conversation Data: Retained for 24 months to support continuity of care and service improvement
  • Account Data: Retained while your account is active plus 12 months
  • Anonymised Analytics: May be retained indefinitely for service improvement

Your Rights

You can request:

  • Access to your personal data
  • Correction of inaccurate data
  • Deletion of your data
  • Export of your data in a portable format

To exercise these rights, contact privacy@healthgridafrica.ng. See our Privacy Policy for full details.

Compliance Approach

We are working towards compliance with applicable regulations.

Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA)

Our service is designed to comply with NDPA requirements. We are working towards full compliance and documentation.

ISO 27001

Our security practices are aligned with ISO 27001 principles. We are not currently certified but follow the framework as guidance for our security programme.

Healthcare Interoperability

Our architecture is designed to be compatible with HL7 FHIR standards to enable future interoperability with healthcare systems. Full FHIR compliance is a roadmap item.

Transparency: We believe in being clear about where we are on our compliance journey. If you have questions about specific compliance requirements, please contact us.

Contact Our Safety Team

For safety-related enquiries or concerns:

Email: safety@healthgridafrica.ng

Privacy: privacy@healthgridafrica.ng

General: hello@healthgridafrica.ng