Artificial intelligence holds enormous promise for health. @WHO welcomes today’s announcement of the Seoul Declaration on #AI in Healthcare for Responsible Innovation and Global Solidarity: cdn-auth-cms.who.int/media-a… Safe and sustainable AI depends on strong foundations: secure infrastructure, well-governed data, capable regulators, sustainable financing and stronger cybersecurity. @WHO is supporting countries in building these foundations through the Global Initiative on AI for Health and the upcoming Global Strategy on Digital Health 2028–2033. Guided by the Seoul Declaration’s principles of human dignity and global equity, our collective responsibility is to translate this promise into AI for health systems that are safe, effective and worthy of patients’ trust.

#France has reported the first documented case of a human infection with #Shamonda virus, a virus only previously detected in animals. The patient was immunocompromised, which made them more vulnerable to infection and severe disease, and unfortunately died. My heartfelt condolences to their loved ones. Shamonda virus primarily affects animals such as cattle, sheep, goats and horses. The virus is thought to spread between animals by the bites of a midge, which is a small fly-like insect. Further studies are needed to fully understand transmission. The French patient was in an area where the Shamonda virus was circulating in animals and where Culicoides midges were also present. @WHO is in contact with French authorities who are collecting information to better understand the source of infection in the first human patient, possible routes of transmission and any potential risk to public health.

Vaccines have saved more than 150 million lives over the past 50 years. But this progress is under threat from funding cuts, conflicts, climate change and misinformation. With #measles outbreaks in dozens of countries, immunity gaps anywhere can threaten health security everywhere. At the same time, innovation offers new hope: malaria vaccines are being rolled out, promising tuberculosis vaccines are in development, and new Ebola vaccines against Bundibugyo virus are approaching trials. But vaccines only save lives when people can access and trust them. @WHO calls on governments, scientists, health workers, industry, technology companies and communities to work together to ensure everyone has access to accurate, evidence-based vaccine information. Everyone, everywhere, at every age deserves the protection vaccines offer. #VaccinesWork

My sincere thanks to Republic of #Korea's President @Jaemyung_Lee for his warm welcome and 🇰🇷's steadfast partnership with @WHO. We discussed the WHO Biomanufacturing Training Hub in Seoul, which has trained over 4,000 professionals from 100 countries. It was an honour to inaugurate its first building yesterday, with the President's strong support. We also discussed harnessing AI for better health, including through today's Seoul Declaration on #AI in Healthcare, with a focus on equity in healthcare delivery and local production of medical products. Our discussions also covered the Pandemic Agreement negotiations on Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing, the #Ebola response in #DRC, and Korea's role in strengthening global preparedness and multilateral cooperation. xitter.cf/Jaemyung_Lee/status/21…