The inaugural session of the Global Alliance for Health Artificial Intelligence, Innovation and Ethics (CHOICE) convened leading experts to advance the ethical and equitable use of AI in health systems, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
In his opening remarks, Dr. Abbas Hassan, Chief Executive Officer of Health Innovation and Quality at the Ministry of Health of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, highlighted the transformative potential of AI and digital health technologies to strengthen health systems and improve service quality. He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to responsible innovation and officially opened the meeting.
Dr. Alemseged Abdisa, Deputy Director General of the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI), welcomed participants to the CHOICE Expert Working Group kickoff meeting. He noted that CHOICE was initiated following a 2025 survey of Grand Challenges grantees, which highlighted strong momentum in AI-driven health innovation but also revealed significant gaps in ethical training and data protection practices. He emphasized that the mission of the Expert Working Group is to develop a practical ethics guide to ensure that the development, use, and governance of AI in low- and middle-income countries are both ethically grounded and equitable.
The conference was organized by AHRI through the Pan-African Bioethics Initiative and Grand Challenges India, in partnership with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. It brought together researchers, technologists, and policymakers to address risks associated with AI systems developed primarily using data from high-income countries, including discrimination, privacy breaches, data exploitation, and security concerns.
The forum featured expert presentations, case study summaries highlighting real-world ethical challenges faced by AI innovators, and recognition of three case study competition winners for their contributions to shaping a practical and actionable ethics guide.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Alemseged commended the spirit of collaboration and acknowledged the support of the Gates Foundation and the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR). He underscored the importance of sustained partnerships and concrete action to ensure that AI innovations in health remain accessible, ethical, and responsive to community needs.