To build the trust needed to fully unlock artificial intelligence’s benefits for global health and ensure it is used responsibly, safely, and ethically, we must reinforce its foundation. That foundation is based on strong health data governance.
AI and digitalization are reshaping health care, with the potential to help detect diseases earlier, improve treatment, and ease workloads for health workers. But the rapid — and largely unregulated — scale-up of these technologies introduces risks, including errors, bias, privacy concerns, and unclear accountability.
The upcoming 2026 World Health Assembly can advance global action on the responsible governance of health data and AI. The WHA is well positioned to build on and expand the global relevance and applicability across all country income levels, including from work in Europe and by the OECD, current efforts of Africa CDC, as well as other regional and national experiences and expertise. As a space for member states to discuss pressing global concerns, WHA is an important opportunity for a critical and overdue discussion on what is needed to strengthen the governance of health data and AI.
About the authors
Dipak Kalra
Dipak Kalra is the president of the European Institute for Innovation through Health Data and a professor of health informatics. He has over 30 years experience in approximately 70 European projects on electronic health record, or EHR, requirements, interoperability, data protection, patient empowerment, the reuse of EHRs for research, and success factors for AI uptake in health care.
Kirsten Mathieson
Kirsten Mathieson is the deputy director at Transform Health, a global coalition advancing digital health for universal health coverage. With 20 years of global health experience, she leads the coalition’s policy and advocacy work. She also sits on the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism of the UHC2030 Advisory Group, the World Health Organization’s Civil Society Commission, and other global working groups.
Eric Sutherland
Eric Sutherland is a senior health economist leading the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s work in digitalization of health, bringing together policy guidance for digital security, integrated data, and responsible analytics including artificial intelligence.
