The World Health Organization, the International Telecommunication Union and the World Intellectual Property Organization are convening the third meeting of the Global Initiative on AI for Health in Hangzhou, China, from 16 to 18 September 2026. It brings together policymakers, regulators, clinicians, researchers, technical experts, civil society and industry. It is not WHO approval of any AI product.

The initiative, launched in 2023, combines the three UN agencies’ mandates: ITU on telecommunications and standards, WHO on health, WIPO on intellectual property. Its work covers standards and governance, collaboration, capacity-building and responsible use of AI in real-world health settings.

The provisional programme includes visits showcasing AI-for-health research and implementation in China, a high-level policy dialogue on governance and cross-border cooperation, parallel technical sessions and progress reports from GI-AI4H working groups. Previous meetings were held in Riyadh in 2023 and Singapore in 2025.

AI can be applied in diagnosis, medical-image analysis, health-system administration and research. Performance on one dataset or in one hospital does not mean a system is safe, equitable or suitable for every population. The agenda therefore emphasises moving from principles to practical implementation, not the launch of a particular clinical tool.

Interim results from the GI-AI4H Benchmarking Challenge are also due to be reported in Hangzhou. WHO states explicitly that those results do not constitute regulatory approval, certification or endorsement of any model. The meeting responds to Member State needs; it does not replace national assessments of medical devices or software.

Photo: Unravel17, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Hangzhou and West Lake. A cityscape, not an official WHO meeting photograph. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Third meeting of the Global Initiative on AI for Health (WHO).