This document discusses using semantic web technologies to help improve access to and use of African traditional medicine (ATM). It proposes developing an integrated ICT approach that would allow various stakeholders to safely and effectively access ATM knowledge and practices. This would involve formalizing ATM knowledge into a graph stored as linked open data and delivered through voice-based queries. Services would address end users' needs while addressing issues like ethics, intellectual property, and sustainability. The goal is to leverage ATM through technology solutions that facilitate inclusion in local languages.

1. Gayo DIALLO
University of Bordeaux
BPH INSERM 1219 – Team ERIAS
LaBRI UMR 5800 - MABioVis
Towards a Digital
AfricanTraditional
Healthcare using Semantic
Web
4th International Symposium « Perspectives on ICT for Development (ICT4D) »
18 May 2017 - VU Amsterdam

2. University of Bordeaux – Environment
➔ The city of Bordeaux (South West of France), a UNESCO World Heritage Site
➔ The University of Bordeaux welcomes over 50,000 students and nearly 6,000 staff members.
About 6,000 students come from abroad
➔ The University of Bordeaux has one of the largest campuses (260 hectares) in Europe
17 mai 2017 University of Bordeaux2
Source: google®
In 2006 Lonely Planet says Bordeaux is world's best city to visit!

3. University of Bordeaux
➔ Multidisciplinary study program
› The University of Bordeaux offers 245 curricula leading to national degrees, organized around
four major scientific fields:
› Science and Technology
› Law, Political Science, Economy, Management
› Life and Health Sciences
› Social and Human Sciences
› A large range of qualifications are possible including: 180 master specialties, 115 national
diplomas in health, a national diploma in oenology...
17 mai 2017 University of Bordeaux3

4. University of Bordeaux
➔ Cutting-edge research
› The field of research is a driving force of the University of Bordeaux. The excellence of its
competencies in all scientific fields (Science & Technology, Life & Health, Social & Human)
was recognized in July 2011 when the university was awarded with the “Initiative of
Excellence”. This award consists of an endowment of 700M€ to support the growth and
development of research.
› The university welcomes almost 2,000 PhD students, currently has 220 joint thesis (co-tutelle)
agreements running, participates in over 60 projects in the FP7, as well as 7 associated
international laboratories and 5 international research groups.
17 mai 2017 University of Bordeaux4
Source: www.u-bordeaux.fr

5. Bordeaux Population Health INSERM Centre 1219
17 mai 2017 ERIAS Research Group5

6. LaBRI: Laboratoire Bordelais de Recherche en Informatique: UMR CNRS 5800
➔ Research Teams
› Combinatorics and Algorithmic
› Image and Sound
› Formal Methods
› Models and Algorithms for Bio-informatics and Data
Visualisation
› Programming, Networks and Systems
› Supports and Algorithms for High Performance
Numerical Applications
› Transversal axis: Big Data
17 mai 2017 LaBRI6

7. Research Topics
➔ Our work is focused both on Fundamental and Applied Research
➔ Main Topic: Knowledge and Data integration in Healthcare
› providing methods and tools for facilitating high accurate (and
massive) data integration
› enabling their efficient secondary use (epidemiology, clinical research,
public health, etc.)
➔ Sub-topics
› Healthcare related Knowledge Modelling
› Semantic Information Retrieval
› Semantic Data Integration
› ICT4D mainly healthcare related

8. The context of African traditional
medicine

9. Traditional Medicine
➔ Traditional medicine (TM) is the oldest form of healthcare delivery
➔ The World health organization (WHO) estimates that about 80% of people use it in Africa
➔ In High Income Countries (HIC), about 50% of people have used complementary or alternative
medicine at least ones
18 mai 20179
TM is the total sum of knowledge, skills and practices based on the theories, beliefs and experiences
indigenous to different cultures, whether explicable or not, used in the maintenance of health and in the
prevention, diagnosis, improvement or treatment of physical and mental illness.
Source: WHO
African Traditional Medicine (ATM) has a holistic view on healthcare involving extensive use of physiotherapy
and herbalism sometimes combined with some aspects of African spirituality. People are treated by
traditional practioners or healers

10. ATM: observations
➔ ATM is the first line of treatment for several pathologies
› Due to wide availability of plants accessible to people and
expensive cost of conventional drugs
➔ ATM knowledge is mostly tacit and therefore largely shared in informal manner and disseminated
orally
› Lack of formalisation and regulation and lack of Adverse Drug
Reaction (ADR) monitoring
➔ Conventional medicine and ATM co-exists in parallel with a minimal cooperation
› The integration of ATM into the conventional health system is
limited. About 25% of modern medicines are made from plants
➔ Many ATM users are underserved people
› Rural people with low education (lack of literacy), low infrastructure18 mai 201710

11. ATM: opportunities
➔ The WHO TM Strategy 2014–2023 has recognized the growing use of TM
› identifies need for harnessing the potential contribution of TM to
health, wellness and people-centred healthcare
➔ 36 out of 46 African countries have approved the WHO regional strategy and its resolution
AFR/RC50/R3
› ATM identified as a research priority
➔ Africa is experiencing a high mobile penetration rate
› Africa is the first continent to have more mobile phone subscribers
than fixed-line subscribers
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12. How ATM practices are evaluated by experts
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Source: Kamsu-Foguem, B., Diallo, G., Foguem, C.
Conceptual graph-based knowledge representation for supporting reasoning in African traditional medicine.
Eng. Appl. of AI 26(4): 1348-1365 (2013)

13. Example for the treatment of Malaria
Name of the plant in local
language (Fulani)
Scientific name of the species Prescription
Poore Lammu
Sungala, Boyle, Kassia, Kiidi, piya
Nete, Kassia
Jabbhe, Meeko, Kassia
Gumbambe
Landolphia heudelotii
Harungana madagascariensis, Urena lobata,
Cassia siamea, Jatropha curcas, Persea
gratissima or americana
Parkia biglobosa, Cassia siamea
Tamarindus indica, Dialium guineense
Cola cordifolia
Crush the fruit of Landolphia heudelotii, salt
and drink
Boil, drink and wash yourself
Boil, wash yourself and drink
Mix the leaves of Tamarindus indica, Dialium
guineense and thin leaves of Cassia siamea.
Boil, wash yourself and drink
Brew the leaves of Cola codifolia (fresh or
dried) and drink
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14. Example for plants documentation (extract, Guinean context)
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Species Family Expression
in Fulany
Expression
in Susu
Part of the plant
used as drug
Jatropha curcas Euphorbiaceae Kiidi Bakhini Leaves
Hymenocardia acida Hymenocardiaceae Pellitoro Barambaran Leaves
Nauclea latifolia Rubiaceae Dundukhe Dundakhe Roots
Carica papaya Caricaceae Buudi Darridhi Fofiya Bark of trunk or roots

15. Plants evaluation
➔ Effectiveness evaluation
› Monitoring groups of people
➔ Toxicity evaluation
› Laboratory test
➔ Pharmacological effetcs
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16. Enabling better ATM usage through
ICT/Semantic Web Technologies

17. The main question
How can we introduce ICT to the ATM domain in order to
help the above mentioned issues?
àA multidisciplinary Horizon 2020 project approach
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18. Objective
Develop a cohesive and integrative ICT approach, which will allow patients, tradi-
practitioners, healthcare practitioners and wider stakeholder groups, as government and
local authorities to access and use ATM in a safe and effective manner
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O1: To collect, formalise and digitalise
the ATM knowledge and practices for a
set of target diseases
O2: To deliver end-user services that
overcome the barriers which prevent
local population from taking profit of ATM
O3: To monitor effectiveness of ATM and
increase safety in relation to its use
O4: To initiate the integration and
regulation of ATM in the national health
systems

19. Partnerships
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HTKM
CRVPM
MPTEN
WAHO

20. Services which address end users needs
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21. Overall workflow
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22. High level architechture
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23. ATM Knowledge formalization
➔ ATM Knowledge graph
➔ Which relies on
› Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) for handling
multilingual issue
› Ontology Web Language (OWL) for capturing the structure of ATM
domain knowledge
› Iconic language to overcome partly lack of literacy
➔ Instanciated and stored in a Resource Description Framework (RDF) triple store
➔ Delivered as a Linked Open Data è Voice based querying
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24. Example of Iconic visualization in the medical domain
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Source: VCM language, Lamy et al.

25. Issues
➔ Ethics
› Ensure that only patients who signed a consent form are included
in the study
➔ Intellectual property
› Ensure that only traditional practitioners who accept to share their
experience are included in the study
➔ Sustainability
› What business model for such a project with high societal impact
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26. Conclusion
➔ ATM usage could be leveraged thanks to ICT based solutions, in particular Semantic Web
technologies
➔ Facilitating inclusion of end users through local languages enabling
➔ As most of ICT4D projects, taking care about multi-cultural aspects is an important issue
➔ Relevant business model to ensure sustainability is important
18 mai 201726

27. Thank you
Gayo.Diallo@u-bordeaux.fr