Dear WHO Member States and delegates to the 158th WHO Executive Board and the 79th World Health Assembly,
As senior leaders of global health organisations, we are writing to call on you to make concrete commitments toward a global framework and a Resolution on health data governance at the WHO Executive Board meeting in February and World Health Assembly in May 2026, to ensure health data is managed ethically, safely, and fairly, As digital technologies and artificial intelligence rapidly transform health systems worldwide, the world cannot afford for the laws and frameworks governing health data to lag behind.
Health systems everywhere are being reshaped by digital tools - from electronic records, mobile apps and wearable devices to AI-driven diagnostics. This transformation promises stronger, safer, more efficient, and equitable health systems, accelerating progress toward universal health coverage. However, without robust mechanisms for accountability in place, including legislative safeguards, it risks deepening inequities, compromising privacy, and eroding public trust.
International and professional principles and standards – from the ICN and WMA Codes of Ethics, to WHO and OECD principles on AI, and the Health Data Governance Principles published by Transform Health – underscore that digital health must remain human-centred, grounded in equity and rights, and accountable to the people it serves.
Sensitive health information is collected, shared, and analysed across digital systems, yet laws governing it have not kept pace. Many national frameworks are outdated, incomplete, or silent on key concerns pertaining to sensitive health data, leaving gaps in data protection, ethical oversight, and accountability. This can lead to risks of data misuse, bias, and rights violations. As AI and digital tools are increasingly used across the health sector, these gaps are no longer tolerable.
Good data governance is a cross-cutting issue and essential to achieving a range of critical health goals. Health records and digital tools — including mobile health and wellness apps — may contain deeply sensitive personal information on mental health, genetic traits, or infectious disease status, requiring strong protection. Without it, data breaches or misuse can expose individuals to stigma, discrimination, or other harms.
Effective health data governance is also critical for health emergencies and pandemic prevention and response, enabling early detection, equitable decision-making, and coordinated action. Weak governance, by contrast, undermines public trust, hinders data sharing, and compromises response efforts.
Data governance underpins healthcare workers’ ability to deliver safe, quality, coordinated, and equitable people-centred care by ensuring clear rules on data collection, sharing, and use. This protects the privacy and the integrity of the clinical relationship and empowers patients and people with lived experience to manage their own health and data better. Strong governance also ensures data – including generated through monitoring and research – is used effectively and responsibly to design, implement and strengthen evidence-based policies and programmes that improve health outcomes and to foster innovation that benefits all.
To achieve this, countries need inclusive, equitable, rights-based frameworks equipped for the digital age and AI - this includes legislation that protects privacy, upholds rights, ensures transparency and accountability, fosters innovation, and encourages the responsible use of data for public benefit. We also need mechanisms for participation in health data governance so that people, or their representatives, have a say in whether and how their data can be shared and used.
These are the foundations of trust in health and health data systems, digital tools, and AI. Without these foundations, people may withhold data or avoid digital tools, undermining the promise of AI and digital health to improve outcomes and strengthen systems.
Health data governance transcends borders. Diseases, patients and data all cross boundaries, calling for coordinated international action. While country action and national sovereignty are vital for countries to maintain authority and autonomy over their data in ways that uphold national priorities, laws and public trust, regional and global cooperation are essential. Compatible legal standards would ensure consistent protection across countries, while cross-border data sharing protocols would enable effective collaboration for safe and ethical research, surveillance, emergency response, and international care. International cooperation can facilitate learning and negotiation to establish a shared global standard to guide and support national frameworks.
This is why discussions during the 158th WHO Executive Board meeting in February and the 79th World Health Assembly in May 2026 must lead to concrete commitments, actions and accountability on health data governance. The Board and Assembly offer vital opportunities to foster a discussion and commitment between countries on shared principles and standards for responsible, inclusive, equitable and rights-based health data governance in the digital age, and would build on ongoing multilateral processes established through the Global Digital Compact. Endorsing a global framework and World Health Assembly resolution, and ensuring that health data governance is a priority in the next Global Digital Health Strategy, would signal a collective commitment to make health data governance a core pillar of resilient and equitable health systems.
We have an opportunity to ensure the laws and regulations governing health data are equipped for the digital age and AI. WHO and its Member States should seize that opportunity in 2026 and commit to a resolution and framework that ensures our health data - and the technologies that rely on it - truly serve everyone, everywhere.
Sincerely,
➡️ Dani Mothci – CEO, International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO)
➡️ Guilherme Gonçalves Duarte – Executive Director, UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health
➡️ Ifedayo Adetifa – Chief Transformation Officer/CEO, FIND
➡️ Jim Sailer – Co-President, Population Council
➡️ Jenna Slotin – Interim CEO, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data
➡️ Jose Luis Cobos Serrano – President, ICN-International Council of Nurses
➡️ Mathilde Forslund – CEO, Transform Health
➡️ Michael Holscher – President, Population Services International
➡️ Nikolaj Gilbert – President and CEO, PATH
➡️ Nicole Spieker – CEO, PharmAccess
➡️ Otmar Kloiber – Secretary General, World Medical Association
➡️ Patricia C. Vaughan – Co-President, Population Council
➡️ Rajat Khosla – Executive Director, PMNCH
➡️ Revati Phalkey – Director, United Nations University – IIGH
➡️ Ricardo Baptista Leite – CEO, HealthAI – The Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health
