Forum on Harnessing Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Health Equity
25 to 26 March 2026

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming healthcare from improving disease diagnosis and clinical decision-making to strengthening public health systems. But an important question remains: who benefits, and how can AI help close health gaps rather than widen them?

The Forum on Harnessing AI for Health Equity was held on 25–26 March 2026, convened by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Western Pacific. The forum was funded through the High-Level Technology Fund with support from the Government of Japan, the Republic of Korea, e-Asia, and the Knowledge Partnership Fund.

Program and Learning Materials
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Opening Remarks Video: Opening Remarks from ADB
Video of Opening Remarks of Ayako Inagaki, Senior Director of Human and Social Development Sector Office in ADB
Ayako Inagaki
Opening Remarks Video: Opening Remarks
Opening Remarks video of Kidong Park, Director of Programme Management, WHO, highlighting the use of Artificial Intelligence in rapidly transforming…
Kidong Park
Keynote Address Video: Keynote Address
Keynote address of Jiho Cha, Member of Parliament, National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, highlighting AI in healthcare and how the government…
Jiho Cha
Scene-setting AI for Health Equity: From Aspiration to Action
This presentation gives an overview of how AI can advance health equity by improving healthcare delivery, reducing gaps in access and quality,…
Hiromasa Okayasu
Session 1. AI Use Cases for the Care Continuum: Improving Access and Quality
Introduction AI Use Cases for the Care Continuum: Improving Access and Quality
This presentation gives an overview of AI use cases across the care continuum and how they improve healthcare access, quality, diagnosis, and…
Rui Liu, Dilip Hensman
Presentations ClinMaster: From Good Data to Better Health Workers
This presentation gives an overview of the ClinMaster case study, highlighting a people-centered AI framework that improves health equity, clinical…
Tiantian (Stanley) Li
Presentations AI in Action: Malaysia’s Experience in Strengthening Primary Care Through Digital Innovation
This presentation gives an overview of AI use in Malaysia to improve primary care through diabetic retinopathy screening and its impact on health…
Nor Fariza Ngah
Presentations Lessons learnt from implementing AI for Health in LMICs
This presentation gives an overview of the lessons learned from implementing AI-driven health tools in LMICs.
Natarajan Rajaraman
Presentations AI-Enabled Health and Care System for Healthy Ageing: Evidence and Lessons from Korea
This presentation gives an overview of AI-enabled health systems for healthy ageing, based on Korea’s experience, focusing on integrated care, equity…
Hongsoo Kim
Presentations Open Source, On-Device AI for Improving Healthcare Delivery
This presentation gives an overview of an open-source, on-device AI system for secure clinical note generation and decision support in healthcare.
Chris Paton
Presentations Digital Twin Powered Equitable Patient Access in Queensland Hospitals
This presentation gives an overview of Queensland’s Digital Twin system for AI-driven risk forecasting, demand prediction, and equitable patient…
Sankalp Khanna
Webinar Recording [Video] Session 1: AI Use Cases for the Care Continuum: Improving Access and Quality
Video of Session 1: AI Use Cases for the Care Continuum: Improving Access and Quality
Session 2. Should we adopt this AI?
Presentations AI Application for Primary Healthcare: Pyeongchang’s Experience
This presentation gives an overview of Pyeongchang County’s use of AI in primary healthcare, focusing on chronic disease management for diabetes and…
Kunhee Park
Presentations Should We Adopt This AI? How To Prioritize?
This presentation gives an overview of a value-based framework for evaluating AI adoption in healthcare, focusing on benefits, risks, costs, and…
Mengji Chen
Webinar Recording [Video] Session 2: Should we adopt this AI?
Video of Session 2: Should we adopt this AI?
Session 3. We’ve Decided to Adopt - What Must be in Place?
Presentations We’ve Decided To Adopt - What Must Be In Place?
This presentation gives an overview of the requirements for safe and effective AI adoption in healthcare, including governance, infrastructure,…
Mengji Chen
Presentations Digital Public Infrastructure for AI
This presentation gives an overview of the role of Digital Public Infrastructure in enabling effective and equitable AI deployment in health systems…
Carolyn Florey
Presentations Strategy for AI in Healthcare for India (SAHI)
This presentation gives an overview of India’s SAHI strategy for AI in healthcare, highlighting its key pillars and phased approach to responsible…
Karthik Adapa
Webinar Recording [Video] Session 3: We’ve Decided to Adopt - What Must be in Place?
Video of Session 3: We’ve Decided to Adopt - What Must be in Place?
Session 4. Future-Ready Health Workforce: Building Competency for Human-AI Collaboration
Presentations A Mapping of AI Education and Training Initiatives for Health Professionals in the Western Pacific
This presentation gives an overview of AI education for health professionals in the Western Pacific, highlighting key findings and recommendations…
Yangmu Huang
Presentations AI-ready Without the Foundation: The Medical Education Dilemma
This presentation gives an overview of integrating AI into medical education, focusing on challenges, opportunities, and the need for strong digital…
Iris Thiele Isip Tan
Presentations
Presentations AI Capacity Building for Health Workforce in Korea: From Medical AI to AI Medicine
This presentation gives an overview of the transformation of health workforce education in the Republic of Korea.
Junghwan Park
Presentations Closing the AI Training Gap Through Collaboration: AVPN’s Efforts
This presentation gives an overview of AVPN’s efforts to improve AI training and digital literacy in healthcare across Asia-Pacific.
Young Park
Webinar Recording [Video] Session 4: Future-Ready Health Workforce: Building Competency for Human-AI Collaboration
Video of Session 4: Future-Ready Health Workforce: Building Competency for Human-AI Collaboration
Session / Activity Title Speaker(s)
Session 5. The Political Economy of AI in Health: Understanding Stakeholder Interests and their Impact on Equity
Scene-setting Political Economy of AI in Health
This presentation gives an overview of the political economy of AI in health, focusing on stakeholders, incentives, and governance for equitable…
Annie Chu
Presentations Application and Practices in Enhancing the Accessibility and Quality of Health Services
This presentation gives an overview of China’s use of AI to improve healthcare services, focusing on equity, access, quality, and efficiency.
Zhiwen Miao
Presentations Paving the Pan-American Highway for Digital Health
This presentation gives an overview of the Pan-American Highway for Digital Health (PH4H), focusing on regional collaboration to enable secure,…
Jennifer Nelson
Presentations Video: From AI Adoption to AI Readiness
This video presentation gives an overview of the AI Adoption and AI Readiness. 
Chikako Masuda
Webinar Recording [Video] Session 5: The Political Economy of AI in Health: Understanding Stakeholder Interests and their Impact on Equity
Video of Session 5: The Political Economy of AI in Health: Understanding Stakeholder Interests and their Impact on Equity
Session 6. AI and Health Financing: Supporting Fair Coverage and Protection
Scene-setting AI for Health Financing Operations: Opportunities and Challenges
This presentation gives an overview of AI in health financing, focusing on its opportunities, challenges, and strategic considerations.
Akihito Watabe
Presentations The Digital Healthcare Transformation Journey in Indonesia
This presentation gives an overview of Indonesia’s strategy for transforming its healthcare system through digital technologies.
Rudy Kurniawan
Presentations Health Financing and AI in Uzbekistan: Supporting Fair Coverage and Protection
This presentation gives an overview of Uzbekistan’s health financing reforms, focusing on AI integration to support universal health coverage and…
Mircea Buga
Webinar Recording [Video] Session 6: AI and Health Financing: Supporting Fair Coverage and Protection
Video of Session 6: AI and Health Financing: Supporting Fair Coverage and Protection
Session 7. AI Regulation and Oversight: Pathways for Different Realities
Scene-setting Responsible AI for Health: Learnings from the Global Governance Landscape
This presentation gives an overview of global governance for responsible AI in health, focusing on policy trends, challenges, and recommendations for…
Peiling Yap
Presentations Video: Healthcare AI Regulation in Singapore
This video presentation gives an overview of healthcare AI regulation in Singapore.
John CW Lim
Presentations Designing and Governing Digital Health Regulatory Sandboxes
This presentation gives an overview of regulatory sandboxes in digital health, focusing on design principles and case studies.
Jasper Tromp
Presentations Health Data Governance Frameworks: In the Era of AI
This presentation gives an overview of health data governance in the AI era, focusing on equity, rights-based principles, and international…
Kirsten Mathieson
Presentations Collaboration in Practice: HealthAI’s Global Regulatory Network and Community of Practice for Responsible AI in Health
This presentation gives an overview of HealthAI’s collaborative efforts to promote responsible and equitable AI governance in global health systems.
Jhon Magkilat
Webinar Recording [Video] Session 7: AI Regulation and Oversight: Pathways for Different Realities
Video of Session 7: AI Regulation and Oversight: Pathways for Different Realities
Session 8. The Way Forward – Building Alliances and Regional Partnerships
Opening Video: Session 8 Opening Message
Opening message of the Session
Albert Domingo
Scene-setting The Way Forward: Building Alliances and Regional
This presentation gives an overview of the importance of building alliances and regional partnerships to advance health equity.
Akihito Watabe, Dilip Hensman
Presentations Partnership Powered Standards, Interoperability and Digital Innovation
This presentation gives an overview of Australia’s Digital Health Research Program, focused on digital innovation, AI, and interoperable health…
Sankalp Khanna
Presentations Video: Developing an Equitable AI Foundation Model Using Real and Synthetic Data - The Global RETFound Consortium
This video presentation gives an overview of the Global RETFound Consortium’s work on developing an equitable AI foundation model using real and…
Paul Nderitu
Presentations Asia eHealth Information Network: The Way Forward Building Alliances and Regional Partnerships
This presentation gives an overview of AeHIN actions towards building interoperable digital health systems in Asia through collaboration and capacity…
Alvin Marcelo
Presentations ASEAN’s AI Strategy and Guidance for Member Countries
This presentation gives an overview of ASEAN’s efforts on AI governance and digital economy integration.
Sivaram Superamanian
Webinar Recording [Video] Session 8: The Way Forward – Building Alliances and Regional Partnerships
Video of Session 8: The Way Forward – Building Alliances and Regional Partnerships

Disclaimer

The views expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term “country” in this document, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

Event Coordinator/s

  • Jae Kyoun Kim
  • Akihito Watabe

ADB Organizer/s

  • Human and Social Development Sector Office

Topics

  • Health
  • ICT
  • Regional Cooperation and Integration