Abu Dhabi returns to the spotlight to drive the future of global health

Abu Dhabi Global Health Week hosted 15,000 attendees from 90 nations and a programme featuring 200 visionary speakers

Abu Dhabi Global Health Week hosted crucial conversations and initiated collaborations to deliver healthcare excellence.

The UAE capital has again put itself front and centre of the international healthcare revolution with a successful second Abu Dhabi Global Health Week.

Across three days, sector leaders from around the world travelled to Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre for a dynamic event that hosted crucial conversations and initiated collaborations to deliver equitable healthcare excellence, held under the patronage of Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

Last week’s gathering built on the “surpassed expectations” success of 2024’s inaugural event and further underlined the city’s importance on the world stage as a leading voice in the mission to advance health and wellbeing.

Under the theme, Towards Longevity, Redefining Health and Wellbeing, ADGHW brought together ministers, health leaders, policymakers, innovators, and investors from many nations. The event resulted in the signing of the ‘Declaration on Longevity and Precision Medicine’ marking a historic milestone in the quest to transform healthcare delivery and research worldwide.

The declaration outlined bold commitments to advance longevity science, artificial intelligence, driven diagnostics, and personalised therapeutics. It set forth six key pillars to advance research, innovation, collaboration and knowledge-sharing alongside investment in education and workforce development. By advocating for supportive policy and regulation, upholding ethics and responsible practices and engaging the public, longevity research is expected to have significant implications for health and society.

In addition, as part of Abu Dhabi’s recently launched Health, Endurance, Longevity, and Medicine (Helm) cluster - a pioneering hub for biotechnology, MedTech and digital health innovation - DoH and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio) signed a memorandum of understand with Masdar City at ADGHW for the establishment of health and life sciences laboratories to foster a thriving ecosystem for researchers and entrepreneurs.

Panel sessions explored the intersection of AI and health.

Building on the 2024 dialogue programme, the latest health week saw critical conversations on health system sustainability, longevity science, and the power of AI and biomedical advances.

Innovation was again central to an agenda that ranged from live pitch sessions and the bold activations in the Startup Zone to the immersive experiences of the Gym of the Future.

The ADGHW Innovation Awards celebrated groundbreaking breakthroughs, as the energy of the exhibition stands and in the discussion halls, thought leadership sessions delivered insightful dialogue, transformative ideas, and proactive engagement.

Central to the potency of ADGHW as a crucible for progressive ideas, high-level panel sessions explored the intersection of AI and health system sustainability, while the live stage hosted forward-thinking discussions on the future of healthcare delivery and cross-sector collaboration.

Elsewhere, interactive showcases highlighted innovations in longevity, digital health, and life sciences, underlining the commitment of ADGHW to shape the future of global health.

The three-day event also saw the signing of several key deals.

These included a DoH Memorandum of Understanding with the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council, which will advance healthcare resilience and sustainability in Abu Dhabi.

The collaboration aims to establish integrated healthcare frameworks between the two bodies, ensuring the delivery of high-quality care amid crises such as Covid, while strengthening emergency response mechanisms.

The partnership will also facilitate knowledge exchange, stakeholder coordination, and innovation in critical healthcare decision-making, further solidifying Abu Dhabi’s role as a global leader in sustainable healthcare solutions.

The DOH also announced a dual MoU with global biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, signed on the sidelines of ADGHW.

As part of the agreement, both parties aim to broaden collaboration in clinical research, advanced therapies and healthcare accessibility, while also enhancing treatment options and driving cutting-edge medical innovation in the emirate.

The event showcased highlighted innovations in longevity, digital health and life sciences.

DoH signed a further five “pioneering” MoUs with leading Russian health and technology institutions, the culmination of an earlier strategic DoH delegation visit to Russia, to further strengthen robust bilateral healthcare partnerships between nations.

DoH and ADIO also signed a MoU with Unilabs Pharma Solutions - a subsidiary of the international provider of diagnostic services, Unilabs - under which the parties aim to develop a state-of-the-art analytical laboratory as part of the Helm cluster.

And an MoU signed by DoH and Adio with global biopharmaceutical leader GSK, in the presence of Sir Jonathan Symonds, chairman of GSK and Badr Al-Olama, director general of Abu Dhabi Investment Office, will bring collaboration on a Multiomics Research Institute in Abu Dhabi. This aims to accelerate oncology-focused genomic science and precision medicine, enhancing diversification and global representation in genomic research to improve cancer patient outcomes.

This follows from GSK’s announcement last year to develop a regional vaccine distribution centre in Abu Dhabi. The centre was created to meet rising demand for GSK vaccines in the region, Near-East and South Asian countries.

Finally, the DoH, in partnership with PureHealth, Khalifa University of Technology, Illumina, M42, Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi and New York University Abu Dhabi, signed a landmark agreement to establish a collaborative framework that will shape the future of healthcare through precision medicine and advanced therapies.

Overall, ADGHW brought together healthcare leaders, policymakers, stakeholders and disruptors from across the planet.

And the voices of those shaping global health in numerous territories were amplified through keynote speeches and live panel sessions that offered the chance to address major challenges and opportunities in creating a global, sustainable and resilient healthcare network.

A robust strategic conference agenda focused on four core themes.

These were designed to drive meaningful change through collaborative dialogue and interactions that could foster the formation of strategic partnerships to strengthen healthcare systems worldwide, ensuring lasting impact across communities and borders long after ADGHW closed.

The themes were Longevity and Precision Health: Personalising the Future of Medicine; Health System Resilience & Sustainability: Crafting Future-Ready Frameworks; Digital Health & AI: Revolutionising Care Through Technology; and Investment in Life Sciences: Driving Global Innovation Forward.

Ibrahim Al Jallaf, executive director of digital health at the Department of Health Abu Dhabi, described ADGHW as an opportunity to “spark partnerships … to spark conversations between experts and people practising in the field” that perhaps haven’t been able to have such conversations before.

With 15,000 attendees from 90 nations, and a programme hosting 200 visionary speakers, 1,900 conference delegates and 150 “pioneering” exhibitors, ADGHW again proved to be a prime date on the world healthcare calendar, further establishing Abu Dhabi as a global health and wellness hub.

“The UAE has always been very well positioned for connecting the globe,” said Mr Al Jallaf.

“Looking now at Abu Dhabi Global Health Week, we’re connecting leading experts, bringing success cases and innovations from their home countries, and having conversations here.”

He said he was even more excited by the 2025 edition of ADGHW as it welcomed an even larger presence of global leaders, which in turn “creates opportunities for even greater and more global ideas”.

“The real value here is we are able to have conversations between global experts that spark new ideas, that result in projects," Mr Al Jallaf said.

“What ideas will have come out of Abu Dhabi Global Health Week 2025, and what kind of impact are we going to see over the next year?”