Elizabeth Girls’ Secondary School Mityana — Healthwise Hub: Empowering Girls Through AI-Driven Health Awareness
ICT Clubs competition
At St. Elizabeth Girls’ School in Mityana, a powerful idea was born out of a silent struggle. In a community where over 60% of the teaching staff are male, many female students found it difficult to seek guidance on personal and sensitive health topics. Questions about reproductive health, adolescence, hygiene, nutrition, skin care, or menstrual management often went unanswered because of embarrassment or lack of privacy. Determined to change this, the school’s ICT Club developed Healthwise Hub — an AI-powered health assistant designed to offer confidential, reliable, and youth-friendly medical advice to students and the wider community.
The Healthwise Hub is more than a mobile application; it is a digital lifeline for young people seeking trusted information in a world full of misinformation. With so many myths and false claims circulating on social media, teenagers often fall victim to confusion and delayed medical intervention. The ICT Club noticed how minor outbreaks, like red-eye infections or Mpox, worsened simply because students could not identify symptoms early enough or were afraid to ask for help. Healthwise Hub was created to solve this — giving every student a safe, digital companion that answers their questions accurately and privately.
Built with Flutter/Dart programming, a Firebase backend, and designed through Adobe XD, the Healthwise Hub combines simplicity with advanced functionality. The application provides verified, science-based responses on topics like reproductive health, nutrition, mental wellness, and personal hygiene. It offers real-time feedback without collecting any user data, ensuring privacy for all users. One of its most thoughtful features is its ability to share feedback through SMS, making it accessible even to those with basic mobile phones who may not have access to the internet.
The innovation’s uniqueness lies in its confidentiality and inclusivity. Unlike most online health platforms, Healthwise Hub is designed specifically for teenagers and young adults — particularly those in school environments where talking openly about health topics is still stigmatized. The application is cost-free, easy to use, and responsive. Users can interact anonymously with the AI assistant, get practical guidance, and receive links to further resources or professional help when needed. It’s a virtual friend, counselor, and educator rolled into one.
But the team at St. Elizabeth Girls’ School did not stop there. They envisioned the app as a growing digital health ecosystem capable of reaching millions of young people. Their future plans include integrating computer vision technology, which will allow users to take photos of skin conditions or infections using a mobile camera and receive instant feedback on possible causes or remedies. They also plan to develop a voice assistant to make the app accessible to users with special needs, ensuring inclusivity for all. In addition, they are working on training the AI model to respond in local languages such as Luganda and Swahili, making it a truly Ugandan-centered innovation.
To ensure sustainability, the team is seeking partnerships with reputable health organizations such as WHO, TASO, and Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU). They plan to use responsible ad monetization and social media promotion to maintain and expand the app. The students understand that for a project to survive beyond the classroom, it needs both purpose and a practical model for growth — and that’s exactly what they have built.
The project also speaks directly to Sustainable Development Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and Goal 5 (Gender Equality). It empowers young women with knowledge, combats misinformation, and creates a safe digital environment where learners can make informed health decisions. By integrating technology into wellness education, the Healthwise Hub bridges a critical gap between healthcare access and teenage awareness — something many rural and urban schools have struggled to address.
At its core, this project represents more than a digital tool. It is a symbol of empowerment and the spirit of innovation that Uganda’s ICT Clubs have nurtured among young people. Through mentorship from the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) and KAWA Uganda, students are learning not just to use technology, but to create meaningful solutions to real problems in their communities. The Healthwise Hub stands as a testament to what young innovators can achieve when given the skills, freedom, and guidance to think beyond the classroom.
In a world where misinformation can spread faster than truth, these young girls have chosen to use technology to protect, educate, and uplift others. The Healthwise Hub is not just an app — it’s a movement for healthier, informed, and empowered youth across Uganda. With its scalability, inclusivity, and vision for sustainability, this innovation could soon become a national model for digital health education in schools.
You can explore the project at www.healthwise.cloud and experience how the next generation of Ugandan innovators is changing the face of youth health one click at a time.
