From artificial intelligence to mental health and healthy lifestyles, discussions at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026 focused on the growing crises facing global health. Leaders emphasised prevention, accessibility, and the role of technology in strengthening strained healthcare systems.

“The first two decades of this century were a golden age for global health,” said World Health Organization Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. During that period, political and financial support, combined with life-saving innovations, helped many countries improve universal health coverage, service access, and financial protection by roughly a third globally.

“But in the past five years, the golden age has ended, and an icy chill has set in,” Tedros warned, citing foreign aid cuts and the need for vulnerable communities to transition toward self-reliance using domestic resources.

Artificial intelligence featured prominently as a potential tool to expand healthcare delivery. Microsoft co-founder and Gates Foundation Chair Bill Gates said AI could accelerate medical research and improve access to care, especially in countries with limited numbers of healthcare professionals. The Gates Foundation and OpenAI announced a $50 million investment to strengthen AI-driven health capacities in African countries, starting in Rwanda with a goal of supporting 1,000 primary healthcare clinics by 2028.

Rwanda’s Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, highlighted how AI can help healthcare workers focus on patient care by automating administrative tasks. “They are going to need these tools to support better care delivery…so they are more focused on delivering better and targeted care to our people,” she said.

Experts also stressed that health innovation must reach the communities that need it most. Peter Sanders, executive director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, said solutions should address real health problems rather than applying tools without clear focus.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were a major concern. Mosa Moshabela, vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town, said prevention could save substantial costs, noting that the world will spend more than $30 trillion addressing NCDs between 2011 and 2030. Nancy Brown from the American Heart Association added that short-term policy cycles make it difficult for governments to invest in prevention.

Experts also highlighted disparities in access to healthy options. Johan Westman from AAK warned that nutritious foods recommended by health organisations are often expensive, time-consuming to prepare, or unavailable in many regions.

Mental health received particular attention, especially in the context of digital technologies. Marija Manojlovic of Safe Online said online challenges have real-world impacts on youth mental health. NYU President Linda Mills emphasised ending stigma, noting that “50 percent of people who are in that level of distress don’t come forward to ask help,” highlighting the need for open dialogue and accessible support systems.

The discussions at Davos underscored a shared recognition that global health requires long-term thinking, equitable access, and the strategic use of technology to strengthen prevention, care delivery, and mental health support worldwide.

Collectively, women lose approximately 75 million years of healthy life each year – equivalent to a week of health lost per woman annually, according to a new report highlighting persistent gaps in healthcare investment. While women and girls make up 49 percent of the global population and generally live longer than men, they spend 25 percent more of their lives in poor health or living with a disability.

The report, released jointly by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), found that investment in women’s health remains disproportionately low and narrowly concentrated on a few areas. Private healthcare funding directed at women’s health accounts for just six percent of total investment, with companies focused exclusively on women attracting less than one percent.

Trish Stroman from BCG and Shyam Bishen from WEF noted in the report that, while gender equality has progressed, “the gap between health outcomes for men and women remains substantial.” In health technology, the disparity is even wider. Analysis by international financial services firm Alantra found that women’s health companies captured only two percent of the $41.2 billion (€35.1 billion) in venture health-tech funding in 2023.

Research suggests that targeted screening and care for four key conditions in the United States – menopause, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, and cardiovascular disease – could unlock more than $100 billion (€85 billion) in market value. Yet, limited funding, combined with gaps in research design, clinical data, and access to care, continues to entrench this divide. “The result is not only a public-health shortfall but a market inefficiency on a historic scale,” the report stated.

Women face a disproportionate disease burden. Conditions such as endometriosis, menopause, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and certain cancers affect women uniquely. Five gender-specific conditions – endometriosis, maternal health, premenstrual syndrome, menopause, and cervical cancer – represent 14 percent of the female disease burden but have received less than one percent of research funding in recent years.

Between 2020 and 2025, private-sector healthcare funding totaled $2.87 trillion (€2.45 trillion), of which women’s health received just $175 billion (€149 billion). Funding is heavily concentrated in reproductive health, women’s cancers, and maternal care, which together account for 80 percent of identified funding events and 90 percent of capital. By contrast, conditions such as endometriosis, menopause, polycystic ovary syndrome, and menstrual health received less than two percent of the women’s health budget.

The report highlights the need for stronger evidence to drive investment and innovation. Women remain underrepresented in clinical trials, with Harvard Medical School researchers finding that women made up only 41.2 percent of participants in 1,433 trials, despite representing a larger share of the affected populations.

Sania Nishtar of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, told a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026 that innovation must be paired with delivery capability and sustainable financing. “If you do not have that delivery capability and the sustainable financing, you’re unable to use innovations for the impact that they’re intended to have,” she said.

The report calls for targeted, cross-sector leadership and a deeper understanding of women’s health to translate scientific evidence into meaningful policy and care solutions.

22 January 2026 was the United States’ final day as a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) after a year of polemic health policy decisions.

The withdrawal process began on 20 January 2025, when President Donald Trump signed an executive order to formally leave the international agency, concluding a year later as the United Nations formally acknowledged the departure. This marked Trump’s second attempt to exit the WHO, following a previous effort in 2020.

The U.S. government cited multiple reasons for leaving the WHO, including the organisation’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, its response to other global health crises, its failure to implement urgent reforms, and concerns about undue political influence from member states. Over the last decade, the United States contributed between $160 million and $815 million annually to the WHO, whose budget ranges from $2 billion to $3 billion.

Following the announcement, the Department of Health and Human Services, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), imposed a government-wide communication pause. Agencies were prohibited from updating websites, releasing case numbers, issuing health advisories, posting on social media, and meeting with external partners. While limited communications resumed after a few weeks, U.S. health agencies remained largely disengaged from the WHO, affecting collaboration with international counterparts, including the European and African disease prevention centres.

The United States also declined to endorse the WHO’s legally binding Pandemic Agreement, signed in May 2025 in Geneva. The agreement aims to strengthen preparedness, prevent future pandemics, and ensure equitable access to medical supplies like vaccines. The Trump administration dissolved the Directorate of Global Health Security and Biodefense, which had coordinated pandemic response across U.S. agencies following the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak.

Domestically, the U.S. shifted its public health guidance. In early 2026, Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy unveiled new dietary guidelines prioritising animal proteins such as red meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs, diverging from WHO recommendations that emphasise plant-based proteins. Vaccine recommendations were also reduced from 17 to 11, with immunisations for hepatitis A and B, influenza, meningococcal disease, and chickenpox removed from universal guidance. Officials cited Denmark, which recommends 10 vaccines, as a model, though critics warned against applying other countries’ policies without adaptation.

International aid was affected as well, with the closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) after six decades of operation. In 2023, the United States provided $71.9 billion in foreign aid, including $16.1 billion for global health initiatives. A study in The Lancet warned that continued reductions could result in an additional 14.1 million deaths worldwide by 2030, including 4.5 million children under five.

The U.S. withdrawal marks a significant realignment of American health policy, distancing the country from multilateral health cooperation and raising concerns about the global response to future health emergencies.