Global health leaders: data-driven policy is key to stronger public health resilience

Global public health leaders, policymakers, and practitioners highlight a growing opportunity: strengthening public health resilience through smarter policy design, data-driven governance, and sustained cross-border collaboration.

For the American Chamber of Health's members, resilience is built in by design. The Chamber's framework, Identify, Validate, Design, Pilot, Launch, Scale, exists precisely so that public-health innovations move from policy papers into real communities. Data-driven governance only matters if the data reaches the front lines, and that last mile is where the Chamber's network of providers and community partners operates.

There is a shared view that advances in digital tools, data systems, and value-based decision-making are enabling governments and health authorities to build more responsive, prevention-focused public health systems, better equipped to protect communities and address future health challenges.

Recent evidence shows the stakes. According to OECD Health at a Glance 2025, health spending across OECD countries remains high, at around 9.3% of GDP in 2024, reflecting the continued prioritization of health following the pandemic. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization's Fourteenth General Programme of Work (2025 to 2028) emphasizes health equity, preparedness, and stronger country health systems, reinforcing the role of data, governance, and collaboration in long-term resilience.

Speakers stressed that effective public health policy depends on communicating clearly with diverse populations, particularly during periods of uncertainty. Beyond informing decisions, data should help tailor communications to the unique needs of different communities, cultures, and social settings.

Prof. Mahmood Adil, Ministerial Adviser at the Qatar Ministry of Public Health and Clinical Professor at Qatar University, said: "One of the things we have learned is that we need to help our frontline workforce and policymakers communicate more effectively. This is underpinned by the data, because if we know what sort of population we are addressing and trying to reassure, then we can use the social determinants of data to enable adaptive communication."

Duncan Selbie, President of the International Association for Public Health Institutes and Chief Advisor to the Public Health Authority of Saudi Arabia, addressed the relationship between independence, evidence, and public trust. "The independence of public health is not from government; it is the independence of science and evidence to speak truth to power. We gain more credibility when we are clear about what we don't know and speak honestly about uncertainty," he said.

Policy dialogue is increasingly meeting practical innovation. GE HealthCare's precision care portfolio includes cloud-based and AI-enabled solutions designed to improve workflows and support data-driven decision-making. The PinPoint Test, an AI-enabled multi-cancer blood test developed with the National Health Service in England, uses machine learning and routinely collected blood biomarkers to support earlier cancer detection. Together they show how emerging technologies are transforming care delivery, diagnostics, and health system performance around the globe.