Science Summit at United Nations General Assembly (UNGA78)

This session outlines a two and a half hour examining power dynamics and decision-making within global health governance, learning from the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic. It promotes critical discourse on equitable collaboration between LMICs and high-income countries (HICs), advocating for a shift in power dynamics and more democratic stewardship in international institutions. One of the objectives is introducing the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in addressing these goals, illustrating how ethically applied AI can identify and address health inequities, enhance data collection and analysis, support collaborative efforts, and foster open and meaningful communication.

Based on the UNGA78 theme of SDGs, we bring the voices of LMICs to focus global attention on the challenges that affect implementation of SDGs among the most vulnerable populations in LMICs while suggesting feasible and effective solutions. The following will be important elements of the session.

Method:

1. The session begins with a short narrative to give a powerful glimpse on the health challenges in LMICs: 1 minute
2. Introductory remarks by the moderator: 10 minutes
3. Introducing the member of the panel: 5 minutes
4. Individual panelist presentations focusing on their chosen themes: 40 minutes
5. Panel discussion led by the moderator addressing the proposed questions: 45 minutes
6. Q/A session with attendees: 30 minutes
7. Concluding remarks and call-to-action by the moderator: 10 minutes

This session aims to provoke a comprehensive discussion on the existing power dynamics within global health governance and intersectoral partnerships. We aspire to inspire a shift in these dynamics towards a more democratic and balanced global health stewardship. We hope to produce a comprehensive roadmap for a more inclusive, equitable, and democratic global health system. Our goal is to create a shared understanding of the unique challenges LMICs face and possible AI-driven solutions, thus stimulating collective efforts to achieve health-related SDGs. By engaging various stakeholders in these discussions, we hope to highlight the value of bottom-up decision-making, community engagement, and democratic global health governance toward the equitable achievement of the health-related SDGs, which has the potential to integrate digital medicine, including AI into the existing healthcare systems of LMICs.