Innovation is critical in finding solutions to the health issues we face, particularly in helping to achieve universal health coverage. Emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, big data, and human genome editing present a wide array of opportunities previously undreamt of.

To fulfil the promise of emerging technologies and mitigate potential harms, it is essential to identify and understand the ethical issues that arise at each step, from the early developmental stage through to implementation. As this is a rapidly evolving area, the governance challenges these technologies present to Member States is considerable, and WHO is committed to supporting countries to address these.

In this sphere, WHO is developing global standards for governance and oversight of human genome editing and piloting a new global registry to track research on human genome editing. WHO is also working to provide guidance, build capacity, shape the research agenda and engage stakeholders in improving the ethical foundation for use of Big data and AI in public health.