Ausamapta/Imci-triage

Swahili-first pediatric triage assistant applying the WHO IMCI protocol for community health workers in East Africa # IMCI Swahili Triage Assistant A Swahili-first decision-support prototype for Community Health Workers (CHWs) applying the WHO IMCI protocol for pediatric triage in rural East Africa. **Live demo:** imci-triage-phi.vercel.app --- ## The problem Community Health Workers in East Africa perform pediatric triage using the WHO IMCI (Integrated Management of Childhood Illness) paper handbook. The protocol is sound and widely deployed with CHAI support in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. But the paper workflow has real friction: the handbook is in English or French, the CHW is thinking in Swahili, and translating observations into a structured referral for the receiving physician takes time the CHW often doesn't have. This prototype turns the IMCI paper flow into a Swahili-first digital tool with two outputs on every case: action steps the CHW can execute, and an English clinical summary for the referring physician. ## Why IMCI, not a generic medical translator A general-purpose Swahili medical chatbot would have been easier to build but worse as a product. Three reasons IMCI is the right scope: 1. **CHAI actually deploys IMCI.** The protocol is the basis for CHW training programs CHAI supports across East Africa. An IMCI tool integrates with workflows that exist; a generic translator competes with them. 2. **Safety comes from structure.** IMCI is a validated decision tree. Applying a known protocol is far safer than letting a model freely generate clinical advice. The AI's job is to execute, not invent. 3. **Structured inputs beat narrative.** CHW-friendly data entry (age band, danger sign checkboxes, symptom grid) gives the model clean inputs. The free-text narrative field captures the nuance. This pattern scales to other protocols. ## Three representative cases All three have been validated end-to-end on production. The bilingual result format and severity color coding follow IMCI conventions. **Case 1 — Deterministic escalation.** …