- RIGHT Foundation and Asian Development Bank (ADB) Co-host Forum
- Exploring Health AI Collaboration for Global Health: Korea’s Potential Contributions and Pathways for AI Adoption and Scale-up
The RIGHT Foundation, together with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), hosted the 2026 RIGHT Foundation Annual Forum on October 22 at the COEX Magok Convention Center in Seoul.
Held under the theme “Next Frontiers of Health AI Technologies for Global Health,” the forum was an official side event of the 2026 World Bio Summit. It brought together representatives from governments, international organizations, funding institutions, companies, and academia to explore opportunities for collaboration on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve healthcare access in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and advance global health equity.
Participants explored strategies for applying AI in global health and Korea’s potential contributions, discussing financing and public procurement approaches to support the adoption and sustainable scale-up of AI technologies in healthcare settings. More than 100 participants, including on-site registrants, attended the forum, reflecting strong interest in the role of AI in global health.
The forum opened with remarks by Minwon Lee, Executive Director of the RIGHT Foundation, followed by welcoming remarks from Eduardo Banzon, Director of the Health Practice Team at ADB, and congratulatory remarks from Junghwan Park, Director of the Division of Health AI and Data Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Gates Foundation then shared their strategies and policy perspectives on the application of AI in global health.
Alain Labrique, Director of Data, Digital Health, Analytics and AI at WHO, emphasized the importance of data infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, workforce capacity, and sustainable financing to support the safe and equitable scale-up of AI technologies.
Junghwan Park, Director of t Division of Health AI and Data Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, introduced Korea’s AI Basic Health Strategy and proposed areas for international cooperation, including a global AI hub, shared evaluation, and AI service delivery.
Ming Dong, Senior Officer, the Diagnostics & Medical Devices team at the Gates Foundation, presented examples of AI-enabled diagnostics, including AI-assisted chest X-ray analysis for tuberculosis screening and AI-assisted ultrasound.
The first panel discussion, “Potential of Korea’s Contribution for Health AI in LMICs,” explored opportunities to apply Korea’s AI technologies and experience to global health. Representatives from Lunit, NTL Healthcare, NAVER, Kakao Healthcare, and Seoul National University Bundang Hospital discussed challenges in addressing healthcare needs in LMICs and proposed practical approaches for collaboration based on their respective technologies and expertise.
The second panel discussion, “AI Application, Scale-up and Market Shaping for Global Health,” focused on the adoption of AI technologies in healthcare settings and their expansion into national health programs. Representatives from Unitaid, the Gates Foundation, Stop TB Partnership, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and Mongolia’s National Center for Communicable Diseases (NCCD) exchanged perspectives on implementation processes and the role of public procurement in enabling the adoption, scale-up, and sustainable use of AI technologies.
The final session, the “Global Health Funders Round Table,” brought together leading institutions in global health across Asia to discuss concrete opportunities for collaboration. The RIGHT Foundation, ADB, the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), and Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI) explored how Asian funders could work together to identify and support promising research and ultimately bring resulting products to those who need them. The funders reached an agreement on concrete steps for collaboration and plan to launch their joint efforts with other leading Asian funders in the near future.
We sincerely thank everyone who participated in the RIGHT Foundation Annual Forum. The Foundation will continue to connect the expertise of Korean life science companies and global health partners through the RIGHT Forum and other collaborative platforms, advancing its efforts to promote global health equity.