The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) announced that its eighth annual summit will take place on November 29-30 at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha. The event, organized by the Qatar Foundation’s global health initiative, will focus on “The New Health Span,” addressing the challenge of ensuring that longer lifespans correspond with healthier, more dignified, and equitably supported lives.
WISH 2026 aims to convene leaders from healthcare, government, academia, research, technology, innovation, the private sector, and civil society to explore how health is managed and delivered amid significant demographic and technological shifts. As life expectancy increases worldwide due to advances in medicine, public health, and technology, the summit will consider how to extend not just the quantity but also the quality of life. The experience of aging varies widely, with some individuals enjoying active, well-supported later years while others face chronic illness, social isolation, unaffordable care, and health systems not designed for aging populations.
Dr. Slim Slama, chief executive of WISH, emphasized the complexity of the issue, noting that no single country, sector, or discipline can solve it alone. He highlighted the summit’s role in bringing together diverse global perspectives to rigorously examine evidence, share experiences, and generate ideas to address these challenges.
The summit’s program is organized around five thematic pillars: The Longevity Dividend, Financing the Cure, AI and Human-Centered Health, Future of Fertility, and Health Diplomacy 2.0. Sessions will explore various topics, such as societal approaches to support healthier aging, financing models to provide equitable access to new therapies, the application of artificial intelligence in health systems while maintaining trust and accountability, advances and ethical considerations in fertility science, and international cooperation in health amid pressing issues like conflict, climate change, migration, disease outbreaks, and supply chain disruptions.
By focusing on these areas, WISH will examine what transformations in systems, policies, technologies, financing, and communities are necessary to ensure that extended lifespans are accompanied by better quality of life. The summit underscores health as a multifaceted issue shaped by broader societal factors beyond clinical care. It also aims to include perspectives from countries at different stages of health system development, especially where innovation is most needed but less accessible, bringing these voices into a shared global dialogue.