The 53 Member States of the WHO European Region have unanimously adopted the Region’s first “Roadmap for action on artificial intelligence in health”. It sets out a shared vision for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into health systems across Europe and Central Asia to improve people’s health, support health-care workers and advance progress towards universal health coverage.
Importantly, it recognizes the growing role of AI in health and the opportunities it offers – for both patients and health-care providers – to strengthen health systems and ultimately improve people’s health and well-being.
The new roadmap was approved during the 76th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, attended by ministers of health and delegates from across the Region.
Dr Corinne Capuano, Officer-in-Charge for WHO/Europe, said: “AI is already changing health care across our region. It can help detect diseases earlier, alert health workers when a patient’s condition deteriorates, reduce administrative burdens on clinicians, and give people access to answers to their first questions about their symptoms, day or night. But these opportunities come with important responsibilities. How do we ensure AI is safe, effective and equitable? How do we protect people’s rights and earn their trust? These are challenges no country can solve alone. This roadmap marks an important step forward: for the first time, Member States have agreed on a common regional approach to harnessing AI for health. We must work together to ensure that AI serves people, strengthens health systems and leaves no one behind”.
Towards responsible AI
Developed in close consultation with Member States, the roadmap has 4 connected priority areas: governance and leadership; ethical, regulatory and legal frameworks; data and digital infrastructure; and capacity-building, implementation support and learning.
Covering the period 2026–2033, it envisions a future where AI is safely and effectively integrated within health systems to improve quality of care, resilience and people-centred care. In developing the roadmap, WHO/Europe used evidence from the first region-wide assessment of AI readiness for health published in 2025 and drew on responses from 50 of the Region’s 53 Member States, which showed strong interest and progress in AI, as well as where further development is needed.
“The future of health care remains firmly grounded in human connection, but AI can now be a powerful ally for both patients and health professionals,” said Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat, Director of Health Systems at WHO/Europe. “We believe that when well-developed and appropriately regulated, AI can help deliver better, more tailored and timely care, and this roadmap is a clear commitment by Member States towards this objective.”
A shared path forward
The new roadmap focuses on:
- integrating AI into national health priorities through dedicated or adapted strategies, clear institutional responsibilities, sustainable investment and inclusive stakeholder engagement;
- promoting safeguards and life-cycle governance to encourage innovation while keeping AI safe;
- strengthening the foundations for trustworthy AI by emphasizing data quality, interoperability, secure access and cybersecurity; and
- translating AI into health-system value through workforce skills, real-world implementation and evaluation.
European and international institutions, as well as European Region Member States, contributed to the development of the roadmap.
It avoids fragmentation by aligning with key European and international instruments, including the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, AI Continent Action Plan, Apply AI Strategy, European Health Data Space, Medical Device Regulation and General Data Protection Regulation, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development policy checklist on scaling AI in health. It is also accompanied by an implementation guide to give countries at different levels of digital and AI maturity a practical, scalable framework.
European Region Member States also supported the establishment of a new WHO office[VK1] on AI, to strengthen WHO/Europe’s and Member States’ capacity to implement the roadmap through evidence, technical assistance, capacity-building and knowledge exchange.
AI refers to technologies that perform tasks normally associated with human intelligence, such as recognizing patterns, learning from data and problem-solving. In health care, this means AI can analyse medical information or personalize treatment.
The roadmap is aligned with WHO/Europe’s second European Programme of Work 2026–2030, the “Regional digital health action plan for the WHO European Region 2023–2030” and the WHO “Global strategy on digital health 2020–2027”
Source: www.who.int
