SUMMARY

Geneva, Switzerland, 26 June 2024 – HealthAI – the Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health, together with the Norwegian Government,  announced today a critical investment in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) to build capacity to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) in health.

The partnership includes NOK 45 million grant investment in HealthAI’s 3-year strategy. This plan aims to build local capacity to implement global standards for regulating AI in health responsibly while building global networks.

AI should be a public digital common good. Better regulation is essential to promote secure and ethical AI solutions. Within global health, AI provides a tremendous potential to increase access to health care, improve treatment, and overall play a role in strengthening health systems. Ensuring access to responsible AI solutions for low- and middle-income countries is essential to counteract the digital divide,

said Minister of International Development, Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim.

Artificial Intelligence holds transformative potential for health systems in LMICs, promising to reduce healthcare costs, enhance the expertise and capabilities of healthcare professionals, and empower individuals and communities. It can be especially beneficial in regions facing a shortage of medical specialists. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, AI could reduce healthcare costs in emerging markets by up to 25% while improving outcomes.

“AI has the potential to save lives across Low and Middle-Income Countries by transforming healthcare—from improving diagnostics to supporting mental health”

says Ricardo Baptista Leite, CEO of HealthAI.

“However, to truly harness this potential, policymakers must prioritize robust regulatory frameworks to ensure these transformative technologies are deployed responsibly and equitably. Norway’s support will enable HealthAI to empower local experts to do just this.”

The grant will contribute towards the implementation of HealthAI’s 3-year strategic plan, which includes:

• Building and Certifying National & Regional Regulatory Mechanisms: Strengthening the ability of LMICs to apply global regulatory standards and enhance their governance capabilities.
• Establishing a Global Regulatory Network: Facilitating knowledge exchange and monitoring adverse events in AI health applications, ensuring quick and effective responses to emerging challenges.
• Creating a Global Public Registry of Validated AI Solutions: Providing transparent access to approved AI technologies, enhancing trust and accessibility.
• Delivering Advisory Support: Offering expert guidance on AI policies and regulations to ensure comprehensive and context-specific regulatory frameworks.

As a first step, HealthAI is launching a Community of Practice to exchange implementation good practices, generate/share evidence, as well as inform, and create cohesion in regulation across countries. This effort will accelerate and guide the momentum being built by many global health organizations, private sector companies, and academic institutions to provide technical and ethical standards, and other guidance in this space.

For further details on HealthAI’s three-year strategy, please visit its website.

About HealthAI:

Based in Geneva, HealthAI is dedicated to integrating AI responsibly into global health systems. It works with governments and many others in the health innovation sector to strengthen the governance and regulation of AI to build trust, advance equity, and deliver on the potential of emerging technologies.

Media contact information:

HealthAI: Anna Brezhneva, contact@healthai.agency, +41 22 552 00 34
Norway: Helene Sandbu Ryeng, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, helene.sandbu.ryeng@mfa.no, +47 99 40 67 30

HealthAI advances the governance and regulation of artificial intelligence to build trust, advance equity, and deliver on the potential of this emerging technology.

Four years ago, the International Digital Health and AI Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) was founded to strengthen collaborative, equitable research on the use of digital health and artificial intelligence (AI)  in health systems around the world. Today, we are please to launch our new organizational strategy under our new identity:  HealthAI.

A Process of Renewal

When I-DAIR was formed in 2019, the organization took an exploratory approach to define the gaps in the existing global digital health landscape and how our work could contribute to more equitable, impactful use of AI and digital health. Through pathfinder projects like the Global Research Maps, Trusted Research Infrastructure, and work on AI Governance, we gained important insights into the challenges and opportunities countries face when integrating these technologies into health systems and services. 

During this time, we also saw unprecedented changes in the health and technology sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly altered our lives as health systems stretched in response to this global crisis. Countries leaned on digital technologies to augment health services, and the importance of health data gained wide recognition. As the world continues to recover from the pandemic, health systems are primed for a new era of digital transformation. 

Innovation in AI technologies has sparked new discourse on its potential benefits and risks. We have only begun to see how AI will alter health systems and services, and there is incredible momentum in the development of new use cases and AI-powered solutions. But we are still grappling with the ethical implications and risks to safety, security, and health that AI technologies pose. There is a growing need to proactively establish safeguards and standards that prioritize equity, health, and well-being. 

As we began a review of our organizational strategy, it became clear that the organization needed to evolve in response to this changing context as well as the expressed needs of our partners and stakeholders. Through conversations and portfolio reviews, we refined our organizational mission, developed a new organizational strategy, and refreshed our organizational identity to more closely reflect the work we will do. While our name and logo may be different, our motivation remains the same:  

A world where artificial intelligence produces equitable and inclusive improvements in health and well-being for all individuals and communities.

Promoting Responsible AI for Health 

HealthAI’s strategy builds on the idea that strong regulatory mechanisms can establish necessary safeguards for and cultivate trust in AI-powered health technologies. As more of these technologies are developed, mechanisms are needed to ensure they are safe, comply with quality standards, and effectively deliver the intended health outcomes. 

Through four core areas of work, HealthAI will promote the development and adoption of Responsible AI solutions in health through the collaborative implementation of regulatory mechanisms and global standards.

This strategy places countries at the center of regulatory processes, promoting flexible and contextually appropriate regulations informed by globally defined standards. Countries will drive the effective governance of AI in health, allowing regulatory processes to address the unique needs of a country’s population and promote the development and use of Responsible AI. With support from HealthAI, these regulatory mechanisms will not only conduct reviews of AI technologies, but will also manage processes for market authorization and reimbursement decisions. HealthAI will work with each mechanism to develop a business model that focuses on long-term sustainability and generates a new source of revenue for regulation. 

HealthAI will support collaboration between countries through a global regulatory network. Countries will have a platform to share best practices, provide collective input to global stakeholders, and alert each other of adverse events related to AI technologies. By facilitating better information sharing between countries, HealthAI can help accelerate in-country approval processes, leading to cost savings and bureaucratic streamlining. 

A global repository of validated solutions will consolidate the outputs of country-level regulatory mechanisms, creating a resource of validated AI health solutions. Countries will be able to identify technologies in use around the world and gain access to the findings of completed regulatory reviews. 

HealthAI will also work with a wide range of partners, providing its expertise to organizations and companies involved in the development, implementation, and management of AI solutions. This advisory support will help entrench global standards of Responsible AI into the entire process of innovation and implementation.  

These four components work together to support an enabling environment that capitalizes on the full potential of Responsible AI solutions to improve the health and well-being of all people.

Partnerships are Key

We are excited about our new strategy, but we cannot do it alone. We are building closer partnerships with partners of all kinds–from the World Health Organization to country governments and more. These partnerships will be key to developing regulatory tools, expanding the capacity of regulatory mechanisms, and advocating for the adoption of global standards. 

We invite you to read more about our strategy and connect with us if you’d like to know more.

I-DAIR is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite as its new Chief Executive Officer, following an extensive global search process. Dr. Baptista Leite will replace Dr. Mehdi Snène, who ensured the transition since Dr. Amandeep Gill’s departure following his nomination as UN Secretary General Tech Envoy. Dr. Baptista Leite will assume the role of CEO on 22 May 2023.

Ricardo Baptista Leite is a medical doctor and former 4-term Member of the Portuguese Parliament, where he sat on the Health and Foreign Affairs Committees. Dr. Baptista Leite is the Founder and President of the ‘UNITE Parliamentarians for Global Health’, a global platform of current and former members of Parliaments, Congresses and Senates, currently present in +97 countries. Dr. Baptista Leite is also Chair of the Centre for Global Health at NOVA University Information Management and Data Science School (NOVA IMS), and Guest Lecturer at NOVA Medical School.

His previous academic roles include having been the Head of Public Health at the Institute of Health Sciences at the Catolica University of Portugal. Additionally, Dr. Baptista Leite is also City Councilor of Sintra. In the past, he has served as Deputy Mayor and City Councilor of Cascais where he was responsible for local health strategy, economic diplomacy, and international relations. Prior to being elected MP, Dr. Baptista Leite was a practicing physician for seven years, including a 5-year Infectious Diseases residency, internship at the World Health Organization, and consulting at a multinational company in the field of health information technologies.

Dr. Baptista Leite further founded ‘CREATING HEALTH – Research and Innovation Funding’ and co-founded the ‘Estoril Conferences’. Dr. Baptista Leite is a Ph.D. candidate in Public Health at Maastricht University and has completed post-graduate studies at multiple universities, including Johns Hopkins, Harvard Kennedy School, and Harvard Medical School.

Ricardo is a dynamic, values-driven leader who has a diverse background of experiences and an excellent track record in Global Health. He has exceptional strategic capabilities, proven operational effectiveness, and a deep understanding of both the health domain and technology.

Dr. Christoph Benn, I-DAIR Board Chair

Dr. Christoph Benn, Chair of the I-DAIR Board announced the appointment of the new CEO of I-DAIR with the following statement: “I have the great pleasure to share the unanimous decision of the Board to select Dr. Ricardo Leite as I-DAIR’s new CEO, after an extensive global search.  Ricardo is a dynamic, values-driven leader who has a diverse background of experiences and an excellent track record in Global Health. He has exceptional strategic capabilities, proven operational effectiveness, and a deep understanding of both the health domain and technology. The Board looks forward to Ricardo realising the full potential of I-DAIR as a global platform for Digital Health and AI research collaboration.”

“I am honoured and grateful to the Board for this opportunity to lead I-DAIR.” said Ricardo.  “It is an organization with impressive achievements, insightful projects, and a talented team. With its enviable network of investors, partners and Board members and given the fast pace of technology and astonishing rise of needs worldwide, I am convinced that I-DAIR is uniquely positioned in the Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence research space and has enormous potential to accelerate innovation, adoption and access of these technologies where they are most needed. I look forward to working with the team and partners to take I-DAIR to the next level and drive global impact towards ensuring health and wellbeing for all.”