Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week has concluded at ADNEC Abu Dhabi. The event gathered more than 11,500 visitors, 271 speakers and 1,600 delegates from 97 countries to discuss strategies to meet future challenges in the healthcare sector and efforts to enhance health and wellbeing globally.
Across three days, Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week attracted key attendees including Health Ministers from Egypt, the Philippines, Greece and Armenia, alongside the UAE federal ministers, members of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, heads of local, regional and international government departments and authorities, international foundations and associations, and CEOs and business leadership.
ADGHW’s objectives centralised around driving impact, to accelerate the future of healthcare. Key areas included the paradigm shift from healthcare to health, public-private partnerships, ethics and standards in healthcare and life sciences, global health equity and sustainability, and the role of technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and innovation in the healthcare sector.
ADGHW’s witnessed the announcement of key outcomes including the launch of the Global AI Healthcare Academy in cooperation between Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and Core42 to enhance AI-trained workforce capabilities and advance diagnostic and operational efficiency, significantly improving patient care, and streamlining healthcare processes to communities across the globe.
In addition, a partnership between the Department and Harvard Medical School International Centre for Genetic Disease (HMS-iCGD) was announced to establish a framework for collaboration to advance clinical and translational research in genomics and Artificial Intelligence (AI), implement an advanced training programme that will transform the use of generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) in medical practice, and collaborate to develop national frameworks, policies and regulations ensuring the responsible use of AI and genomics in the emirate.
Translating DoH’s continuous efforts to spearhead borderless collaboration, research and innovation to enable a healthier future for all, the department forged a collaborative agreement with the Authority of Social Contribution – Ma'an to bolster scientific research through creating solutions that address arising healthcare challenges, as well as enhancing scientific research and innovation in the emirate. In addition to launching the AED One Billion Healthcare Endowment Fund over five years to further advance endowment work towards specialised healthcare needs of the community, through a partnership between the department and Endowments and Minors Funds Management Authority (Awqaf Abu Dhabi).
ADGHW also witnessed the launch of HealthX, a startup programme that seeks to advance Abu Dhabi as a hub in the biotech and life science industry, which will advance 30 global cutting-edge life science startups into the UAE’s healthcare ecosystem over a period of two years.
The event facilitated the signing of 18 agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between global organisations, fostering joint actions to accelerate the future of healthcare. Among these MoU’s is an agreement between DoH and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) to strengthen and advance emergency medicine in the emirate as well as the inauguration of IFEM’S first regional office in Abu Dhabi. ADGHW highlighted the importance of ensuring equity and sustainability within the healthcare sector, which was addressed through a direct agreement between DoH and GSK to establish a GSK regional vaccine distribution hub in Abu Dhabi. In addition to the launch of Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre’s (ADPHC) white paper, titled Towards Health Equity: Bridging the Gap for Individuals with Autism through Public Policy and Technology.
In the field of life sciences, the department unveiled a Declaration of Principles on Bioconvergence, to transform healthcare, and improve human health and wellbeing. As a first-of-its-kind initiative, the declaration outlines global principles covering guidance on transparency, accountability, and bias mitigation, as well as research ethics and ethical decision-making in the field of Bioconvergence. Alongside the announcement of DoH’s collaboration with AstraZeneca, to develop the UAE’s first Breast Cancer Quality Improvement Programme (QiP) and Research Platform, accelerating progress in the fight against breast cancer, as well as DoH’s collaboration with Roche Pharmaceuticals Middle East to support the evolution of real-world data collection in Abu Dhabi, and the subsequent potential evidence generation activities that are targeted to monitor rare and priority diseases.
The Health Leaders Forum was also introduced at ADGHW, which focused on Transforming the Global Health Ecosystem: From Healthcare to Health welcomed more than 60 speakers and 250 invited leaders to participate in high-level collaborative panels.
Throughout the three day event, ADGHW witnessed the Future Health Summit, hosting keynote speeches, panel sessions, and discussions around themes central to accelerating the future of healthcare, focusing on creating impact on an individual, community and global level. Themes of the summit ranged from AI to microbiomes, regenerative medicine, longevity, genomics, and the fast-growing fields of preventative and precision medicine, addressing future needs required for a globalised tech-enabled healthcare environment.
DoH collaborated with key strategic partners within the healthcare ecosystem to bring Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week to life, including the event’s Foundation Partner M42 and other leading healthcare ecosystem sponsors, PureHealth, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Burjeel Holdings, GSK, Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi (IHLAD), Novartis, Viatris, AstraZeneca, Sanofi and many more.
