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Technology·Health

El Salvador launches AI-assisted telemedicine platform amid healthcare worker backlash

Wednesday, 29 April 2026, 07:05 · 1 min read

El Salvador's government has unveiled the second phase of DoctorSV, a telemedicine app developed in partnership with Google and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), which uses an AI assistant to assess chronic disease risk, generate lab orders, and coordinate patient follow-up — all without requiring an in-person doctor visit. President Nayib Bukele framed the platform as a world-first model for AI-integrated public healthcare, with supporters in The Lancet describing it as a replicable system for resource-constrained settings. However, doctors' unions warn that the rollout is receiving preferential funding while the broader public health system faces thousands of layoffs, supply shortages, and a contested hospital network law they say concentrates power in the executive branch, and cybersecurity experts caution that patient data protections remain insufficiently defined.

Sources
Global VoicesAI hype narrative reaches the public healthcare system in El Salvador ↗︎
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