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WHO and ADB to Host Forum on AI for Health Equity
AI's Transformative Role and Challenges in Healthcare
Over the past decade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has significantly advanced in complexity and performance, finding transformative applications in healthcare, such as enhancing disease diagnosis and supporting clinical decision-making. However, the adoption of AI has been met with caution due to concerns like model bias, data breaches, privacy violations, and the potential erosion of professional skills from over-reliance on AI. The rapid rise of Generative AI further highlights the urgent need for comprehensive governance and ethical frameworks.
Forum on Harnessing AI for Health Equity
In response, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will convene the 'Forum on Harnessing AI for Health Equity' from March 25–26 at ADB Headquarters. The forum will bring together senior health officials from 16 developing member countries (DMCs), along with leading researchers, innovators, and policymakers from across Asia and the Pacific. They will discuss how AI can be governed, financed, and scaled to deliver healthier lives for all. The forum is funded through the High-Level Technology Fund with support from the Government of Japan.
Forum Objectives and Key Agenda
The two-day forum aims to identify high-impact, evidence-based health AI use cases suitable for resource-constrained settings and map out a pipeline for potential support. It will also introduce and validate the WHO's policy guidance for countries and institutions to self-assess their readiness for AI adoption. Participants are expected to make initial commitments to join a pilot regional initiative focused on data/model sharing for a priority health challenge. The forum seeks to endorse actionable policy recommendations focusing on governance, regulation, and sustainable financing to scale high-impact health AI use cases in resource-constrained settings.
*Source: World Health Organization (WHO) (2026-03-19)*
