WHO Launches Global Initiative to Guide AI Integration in Health Systems

It builds upon the WHO’s Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025 and aligns with the broader goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched the Global Initiative on Artificial Intelligence for Health Systems.

The GI-AI4H is a framework designed to guide the responsible and sustainable integration of AI technologies into healthcare systems.

Published recently in Nature, the initiative aims to ensure ethical deployment, effective regulation, and practical implementation of AI in global health, particularly in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Key Features

GI-AI4H is anchored in four key focus areas: ethics, regulation, implementation, and operations.

It builds upon the WHO’s Global Strategy on Digital Health 2020-2025 and aligns with the broader goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda.

A global ethics training programme under GI-AI4H has already reached over 25,000 stakeholders in 178 countries, focusing on building awareness and capacity, especially in resource-limited settings.

As part of its push for consistent global oversight, GI-AI4H is collaborating with the International Medical Device Regulators Forum and the WHO-ITU Working Group on Regulatory Considerations to align AI guidelines across countries.

The effort gained traction following the 77th World Health Assembly in 2024, which placed a renewed focus on inclusive, rights-based governance of AI in health.

Despite the growing development of AI tools, real-world deploymentparticularly in low- and middle-income countries, remains limited.

To address this, GI-AI4H is working with local health workers and IT teams to adapt technologies to specific regional contexts and overcome structural barriers to implementation.

The WHO plans to expand engagement with member states and technical experts in the coming months to further refine the framework and promote responsible adoption worldwide.

Stay tuned for more such updates on Digital Health News.