Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly Strategic Roundtable
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform global health by providing advanced tools for surveillance, drug development, administration, diagnosis, treatment, and patient care. It can improve access to services, address workforce shortages, and reduce health system costs. But the success of AI depends on governance, equity, data, regulations, policies, and more.
The rapid growth of AI underscores the urgent need for this roundtable, which will drive collaboration to harness AI for health, while ensuring a focus on justice and inclusion, and protections for human rights and privacy.
Aligning with WHO’s support to countries on the digital transformation of health systems, this roundtable aims to: initiate discussions around a possible renewed Global Strategy on Digital Health and AI (2026-2030), explore priorities for the Global Initiative on AI for Health (GI-AI4H); identify priority areas for guidance, technical support and consensus-building; and distribute responsibilities across stakeholders, including resource mobilization to support Member States in leveraging AI to strengthen health systems.
Speakers from academia, ministries of health and information and communications technology, the regulatory and private sectors will review the state of the art of what is possible with AI in health and address key issues, including public-private partnerships, national and regional regulatory oversight, and the investment case for AI in health system strengthening.
The session takes place at the UN Palais des Nations, Room XVIII on Thursday 30 May 2024 between 13:00–14:15 CEST.
The strategic roundtables span the overarching theme of the Seventy-seventh World Health Assembly: All for health, health for all, and WHO Investment Round, allowing participants to reflect on the Organization’s achievements, current and future challenges facing global health.
Moderator
Dr Magdalena Skipper
Panelists
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General
Professor Effy Vayena, Professor of Bioethics and Policy, Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH)
Dr Atul Gawande, Assistant Administrator for Global Health, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
H.E. Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for AI & Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, United Arab Emirates
Mr Marco Marsella, EU4Health and Health systems modernisation DG SANTE – Health and food safety, European Commission
Dr Karen DeSalvo, Google Chief Health Officer
Professor, Dr, med. Mathias Goyen, Chief Medical Officer Oncology GE, HealthCare
*Additional speakers may be announced.