The SkincAIr project: Bringing together African and European partners to fight skin-related neglected tropical diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa through an AI-powered mobile app designed for frontline health workers

September 2025

Press Release

The SkincAIr consortium – “Early detection and management of SKIN-related neglected tropical diseases using Artificial Intelligence in Sub-Saharan Africa” – is proud to announce the launch of this innovative initiative, co-funded by the Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking and the European Commission under the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation program.

SkincAIr brings together African and European partners to fight skin-related neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) in Sub-Saharan Africa through an AI-powered mobile app designed for frontline health workers. NTDs disproportionately affect marginalized communities, where the lack of trained staff and diagnostic tools makes early detection a major challenge. SkincAIr’s mission is to change this reality by putting accessible AI solutions directly in the hands of those closest to the patient.

The SkincAIr detection model relies on the following:

• AI-powered diagnostic support: Using deep learning to analyze skin images captured via smartphone. SkincAIrprovides frontline healthcare workers with fast and accurate diagnostic assistance, helping to improve early detection and treatment in regions with limited medical resources.
• Fair and inclusive model: The model is trained using diverse datasets from multiple regions to ensure accurate diagnoses for different skin tones, age groups and geographic backgrounds, thereby promoting equitable access.
• Smart and scalable technology: Built on robust data pipelines and advanced AI architectures such as convolutional neural networks and vision transformers, SkincAIrintegrates real-world patient data and bias detection methods to provide an accurate, scalable and trustworthy solution.

Social Benefits of SkincAIr

Beyond its technological innovation, SkincAIris designed to deliver tangible social impact. By equipping frontline health workers with advanced AI tools, the project strengthens healthcare capacity in remote and underserved areas, improving early detection and treatment outcomes for patients affected by skin-related NTDs. It also raises community awareness around prevention, diagnosis, and treatment pathways, helping to break the cycle of neglect that surrounds these diseases. Finally, by highlighting the unmet needs and systemic challenges of NTD management, SkincAIr seeks to draw the attention of policymakers, governments, and other key stakeholders, paving the way for more inclusive and equitable healthcare strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The SkincAIr model is set to be deployed in five countries — Kenya, Senegal, Ethiopia, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — where skin NTDs are prevalent and access to early diagnosis is limited. Local clinics and health research institutions will assist with testing and deployment, and the creation of the first public dataset of skin NTD images in Sub-Saharan Africa. This will validate the AI models under real clinical conditions.

The Project consortium, led by Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, brings together 12 partners from Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa—combining clinical, academic, technical, legal, and marketing expertise. Meet here all the partners involved in this ambitious project.

Get in touch

For media inquiries, please contact: skincair@australo.org

Follow SkincAIron LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Bluesky and YouTube, and visit SkincAIr’s website: