ITU, WHO, WIPO Global Initiative on AI for Health
Health innovation increasingly applies artificial intelligence (AI). As AI-enabled health innovation advances and interest in it grows, global cooperation among relevant stakeholders will be essential. Where AI-enabled health innovation flourishes, patients and populations will benefit.
Launched in 2023, the Global Initiative on AI for Health (GI-AI4H) brings together three leading United Nations organizations with distinct but complementary expertise in AI. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) drives global standards and connectivity for AI-enabled technologies. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides authoritative guidance on the safe and ethical use of AI in health systems, grounded in its Global Strategy of Digital Health 2020–2025 (extended to 2027) and its AI Ethics & Governance Guidance (2021). The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) serves as the leading international forum on the intersection of AI and intellectual property (IP). Since 2019, WIPO has worked with its member states and stakeholders to support understanding of IP as a catalyst for AI-enabled innovation.
The GI-AI4H stands as an institutional structure grounded in its mission to enable, facilitate, and implement AI in healthcare recognizing the essential role of IP in supporting AI-enabled health innovation.
Publications
AI-enabled Health Innovation and IP: From Idea to Impact
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2026
This publication provides practical guidance across three critical areas: IP considerations throughout the innovation lifecycle, commercialization pathways, and health data governance frameworks. It features an Innovation Lifecycle IP Matrix mapping strategic IP decisions from ideation through global scale-up, alongside case studies from companies across the globe. The publication addresses a critical question: how to use IP frameworks to protect AI-health innovations while ensuring they reach patients in all settings.
AI-enabled Health Innovation and IP: From Idea to Impact
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2026
This publication provides practical guidance across three critical areas: IP considerations throughout the innovation lifecycle, commercialization pathways, and health data governance frameworks. It features an Innovation Lifecycle IP Matrix mapping strategic IP decisions from ideation through global scale-up, alongside case studies from companies across the globe. The publication addresses a critical question: how to use IP frameworks to protect AI-health innovations while ensuring they reach patients in all settings.
Mapping the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Traditional Medicine: Technical Brief
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2025
This technical brief offers insight into the rapidly evolving AI for health landscape and how it might be utilized in Traditional Medicine (TM). Regional and global examples are presented to show how AI is currently being used in TM. It sets out developments including the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (2024).
Mapping the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Traditional Medicine: Technical Brief
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2025
This technical brief offers insight into the rapidly evolving AI for health landscape and how it might be utilized in Traditional Medicine (TM). Regional and global examples are presented to show how AI is currently being used in TM. It sets out developments including the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (2024).