WHO report calls for stronger ethics oversight of AI-related health research

21 September 2026

The World Health Organization released a report, 'Artificial Intelligence-related health research: ethics review and oversight', on 21 September 2026.
It gives recommendations to researchers, ethics committees, regulators, funders and policy-makers.
It identifies three categories: health research with data that uses AI, research with AI tools, and health research on AI tools and technologies.
It says research ethics committees (RECs) will stay central but may need more expertise, training and resources.
It notes that much AI research is concentrated in higher-income settings and calls for local capacity in low- and middle-income countries.