Dear HIFA colleagues,
The World Evidence-based Healthcare (EBHC) Day 2026 'explores the role of artificial intelligence in evidence-based healthcare, and how people can remain at the centre of the way AI is developed, used, governed and evaluated in health decision-making. The campaign invites the global evidence community to consider what is possible when AI strengthens trust, equity and rigour – and what is at stake when it does not.'
HIFA looks forward to supporting this. For example, this could be an opportunity for us to hold a HIFA Spotlight on this topic (one week of focused discussion on the HIFA forums @ £500): www.hifa.org/spotlights
Below is the news release. Read online: https://worldebhcday.org/news/2026-media-release
June 2026
Evidence and AI: People at the Centre
WORLD EBHC DAY 2026 CAMPAIGN LAUNCH
Today an international coalition of organisations dedicated to evidence-informed decision-making launched the World Evidence-based Healthcare (EBHC) Day 2026 campaign, ‘Evidence and AI: People at the Centre’.
World EBHC Day is delivered in partnership by JBI, Cochrane, The Campbell Collaboration, Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Centre for Evidence-based Health Care, and Instituto Veredas.
Held annually on 20 October, World EBHC Day raises awareness of the need for better evidence to inform healthcare policy, practice, and decision-making in order to improve health outcomes globally.
The 2026 campaign explores the rapidly growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in evidence-based healthcare and examines how people can remain at the centre of how AI is developed, deployed, governed, evaluated, and used in healthcare systems and evidence ecosystems.
As AI increasingly mediates how health evidence is produced, synthesised, communicated, and applied, the campaign highlights both the opportunities and risks.
“Artificial intelligence is already transforming healthcare and the evidence ecosystem,” said Bianca Pilla, Chair of the World EBHC Day Steering Committee. “AI has enormous potential to make evidence more timely, accessible, and responsive, but these technologies must be guided by transparency, accountability, equity, and meaningful human involvement.”
The World EBHC Day 2026 campaign recognises that AI is now influencing how people access health information, how clinicians make decisions, how policymakers develop guidance, and how evidence is communicated globally.
From automated evidence syntheses and clinical decision-support tools to multilingual translation and AI-generated health content, AI is rapidly changing the way evidence moves through healthcare systems.
At the same time, the 2026 campaign acknowledges significant challenges associated with AI, including algorithmic bias, misinformation, opaque decision-making, inequitable access, and the potential erosion of public trust.
“The tools are powerful, but the choices are ours,” said Pilla. “This campaign is about ensuring that communities, patients, clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and the public remain active participants in informing how AI is used in evidence-based healthcare.”
The World EBHC Day 2026 campaign focuses on four pillars:
Communities, patients, and the public as partners in AI-enabled EBHC
Ethics, integrity, and governance of AI in EBHC
Innovation, automation, and the transformation of evidence ecosystems
Communicating trustworthy evidence in the age of AI
Building on previous World EBHC Day campaigns, including evidence and global health equity; evidence in an infodemic; partnerships for purpose; and collaborative knowledge communication, the 2026 campaign reflects growing international recognition that trustworthy evidence, inclusive partnerships, and public engagement remain essential in an increasingly AI-mediated world.
The campaign also highlights the growing importance of evidence literacy and trustworthy communication as AI-generated content and algorithm-driven platforms increasingly influence the information people encounter online.
World EBHC Day 2026 invites researchers, clinicians, communicators, policymakers, technologists, patients, communities, and the public to contribute to global discussion by submitting blogs, videos or podcasts, or by hosting events.
To learn more about World EBHC Day and participate in the 2026 campaign, visit: https://worldebhcday.org
Media enquiries to:
Bianca Pilla
Chair, World EBHC Day Steering Committee
Director, Global Relations at JBI
bianca.pilla@adelaide.edu.au
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HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org