World Endoscopy Organization's Response to the World Health Organization's Global Initiative on Artificial Intelligence for Health.

Journal: Digestive endoscopy : official journal of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society
Published Date: Aug 4, 2025

Abstract

In response to the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Initiative on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Health, the World Endoscopy Organization (WEO) highlights the unique challenges and opportunities AI presents for gastrointestinal endoscopy, particularly in resource-limited settings. While AI technologies have shown promise in improving diagnostic accuracy and efficiency in high-resource environments, their implementation in low- and middle-income countries is hindered by infrastructural, economic, regulatory, and training barriers. This commentary explores how these challenges may exacerbate existing healthcare disparities, emphasizing the need for localized datasets, affordable AI models, simplified regulatory frameworks, and workforce capacity building. The WEO supports WHO's call for equitable AI deployment and advocates for region-specific solutions, including mobile and offline AI tools, public-private partnerships, locally developed algorithms aligned with prevalent disease patterns, and a flexibly adapted regulatory framework. By leveraging WEO's training networks and fostering collaboration among governments, clinicians, and industry, the integration of AI into endoscopy can become more accessible and relevant to underserved populations. The commentary underscores that AI should not be seen as a luxury but as a tool to bridge global disparities in care quality. Ensuring responsible and inclusive AI integration requires both global coordination and context-specific adaptations to truly benefit all healthcare systems.

Authors

  • Nayantara Coelho-Prabhu
    Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
  • Purnima Bhat
    School of Medicine and Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
  • Rakesh Kalapala
    Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG Hospitals), Gachibowli, Hyderabad, India.
  • Junaid Mushtaq
    Clinical and Experimental Radiology Unit, Experimental Imaging Center, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
  • Hisao Tajiri
    The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Yuichi Mori
    Clinical Effectiveness Research Group, Institute of Health and Society, University of Oslo, and Department of Transplantation Medicine Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital, Yokohama, Japan. Electronic address: ibusiginjp@gmail.com.

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