Future Health Convenes Global Health Leaders at UNGA to Advance Health System Transformation at Scale

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 26, 2026--

Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi convened Ministers, senior government representatives, and global health leaders in New York on the sidelines of the 81 st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81). The high-level dialogue set out practical priorities for moving health systems from reactive treatment towards prediction, prevention, and earlier intervention.

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Chaired by H.E. Ahmed Al Sayegh, Minister of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates, the dialogue brought together participants from Angola, Brazil, Ethiopia, Finland, Guyana, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United Republic of Tanzania and the United States of America.

Across different national contexts, four connected requirements emerged: population data to identify risk earlier; financing and incentives for prevention; delivery capacity to turn insight into timely services; and trusted, inclusive systems that reach people where they live. Prevention was also recognised as an investment in human capital.

Examples included national life-course screening; integrated demographic, clinical, and genomic data; community health workers supported by digital records; decentralised care; and policy action on nutrition, affordability, and healthier behaviour.

FROM EARLIER INSIGHT TO PRACTICAL ACTION

H.E. Ahmed Al Sayegh, Minister of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates, said: “Investing in prevention is an investment in people, and in the future of our societies. As science gives us a better understanding of risk, we must ensure that knowledge leads to earlier action and better health. The UAE remains committed to working with international partners, sharing experience, and strengthening cooperation to build health systems that ensure the health of our populations well into the future.”

Held under the theme ‘Redesigning Health Systems for Prediction, Prevention and Population Health Outcomes’, the discussion examined how health systems can best adopt scientific advances and move from pilots to population-scale delivery.

The dialogue reinforced that prevention depends on the environments in which people live and work, as well as trusted community infrastructure that supports everyday prevention and outbreak response. It also identified screening, referral, affordability and physical accessibility as barriers that must be addressed to ensure that earlier intervention benefits populations equitably.

ABU DHABI CONNECTS EARLIER INSIGHT WITH ACTION BEYOND HEALTHCARE

Representing the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, H.E Dr Ahmed AlKhazraji, Executive Director of Healthy Living, shared how the emirate is putting prevention into practice through its Healthy Living Strategy. Abu Dhabi is combining its health data and life sciences capabilities with cross-sector initiatives in the everyday settings that shape choices, including communities, workplaces and schools.

H.E. Dr Ahmed AlKhazraji said: “The ability to identify risk earlier is a major advance, but insight alone will not improve health. We need to act on the factors that influence health long before someone enters a clinic. In Abu Dhabi, that means working across government and with the private sector to make healthier choices more accessible, from the food people encounter in supermarkets and restaurants to the opportunities for children to eat well and be active at school. This is how prevention moves from ambition to delivery at population scale.”

Abu Dhabi’s approach is also featured in Future Health's latest white paper, The Future of Healthy Living: A $16.4 Trillion Opportunity, which draws on research showing that 19 of the 23 drivers shaping health sit outside the formal healthcare system. The paper sets out five-step framework governments can use to turn healthy living ambitions into coordinated action.

A YEAR-ROUND PLATFORM FOR GLOBAL HEALTH COLLABORATION

Moderated by Hadley Gamble, Chief International Anchor at IMI, the dialogue explored Future Health's 2026 theme, 'To Sense is to Predict'.

Future Health is a year-round global platform bringing together governments, innovators, researchers, and investors to help develop and scale health solutions. The UNGA dialogue forms part of its global programme of convenings.

H.E. Dr Ahmed AlKhazraji added: “We invite leaders from across the global health ecosystem to continue this conversation at the Abu Dhabi Future Health Summit from 20-22 October 2026.”

NOTE TO EDITORS:

Ministers and senior government representatives included:
H.E. Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Minister of Health of Indonesia; H.E. Frank Anthony, Minister of Health of Guyana; and H.E. Col. Assa Badiallo Touré, Minister of Health and Social Development of Mali. Other senior government representatives included H.E. Dr. Maha Barakat, Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE; H.E. Dr Yvan Butera, Minister of State for Health of Rwanda; Dr. Carlos Alberto Pinto de Sousa, Secretary of State for Public Health of Angola; Laura Rissanen, State Secretary to the Minister of Social Security of Finland; Petra Noreback, State Secretary for Health and Social Affairs of Sweden; and Mr. Rabeson Christian, Director of Cabinet, Ministry of Health, Madagascar.

Senior representatives from international organisations and the wider health ecosystem included:
Hon. Dr. Zeyana Abdallah Hamid (MP), Vice Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and HIV/AIDS and Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU); Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, Director of the Pan American Health Organization; Dr. Raji Tajudeen, Acting Deputy Director General of Africa CDC; Valerie Boulet, Chief Development Officer of the WHO Foundation; Dr. Ola Abualghaib, Director of the UN Global Disability Fund; Greg Kuzmak, Director, Health at the Rockefeller Foundation; Dr. Awele Elumelu, Chairperson of Avon Healthcare Limited; and Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, Chairman and CEO, Burjeel Holdings, UAE, and Associate Partner of Future Health.

ABOUT FUTURE HEALTH – A GLOBAL INITIATIVE BY ABU DHABI

Future Health is a year-round platform for global collaboration and transformative health innovation, held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

Bringing together health researchers, policymakers, business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs from across disciplines and geographies, Future Health drives collective action to strengthen health systems and unlock longer, healthier lives for all.

Through a year-round programme of research insights, publications, impact initiatives, Challenges, R&D funding, and cross-sector convenings, Future Health advances progress across four focus areas: longevity and precision medicine, health systems and sustainability, digital health and AI, and investment in life sciences.

Future Health is curated and convened by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and its Founding Partners: PureHealth, M42, Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi, and Mubadala Bio. Mediclinic Middle East serves as Strategic Partner and Burjeel Holdings as Associate Partner.

For more information, visit www.futurehealthinitiative.ae ⁠ and follow Future Health on: X, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Future Health – A Global Initiative by Abu Dhabi convened Ministers, senior government representatives, and global health leaders in New York on the sidelines of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81).

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday rejected Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within a week if the U.S. meets certain conditions.

Meanwhile, Iranian media outlets said the country's president has left New York after the United Nations gathering of world leaders that included Iran's indirect talks with the United States. And Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted another missile it blames on Iran -backed Houthis in neighboring Yemen.

Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.

Iran offered this week to reopen the strait and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the U.S. lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.

But on Saturday, Trump rejected the proposal saying Iran wanted to make a deal because it was “losing so badly.”

“They want to make a deal and I think that’s fine,” Trump told reporters outside the White House before leaving for a college football game. “I’d like to make a deal, too. But that deal would not be acceptable.”

Iran effectively closed the strait after the U.S. and Israel attacked the Islamic Republic in late February, and the number of ships passing through has dropped significantly because of Iranian threats and attacks on vessels in the waterway.

Semiofficial media outlets in Iran reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian has left New York for Tehran after the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders.

Pezeshkian's speech to the gathering pushed back against Trump's latest threat to “annihilate” the Islamic Republic, but he ended by saying Tehran remains open to diplomacy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists Friday night that under Tehran's proposal, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume talks on its nuclear program in seven days if the United States lifts its naval blockade of Iranian ports, waives sanctions on Iranian oil sales and observes a ceasefire that would include Lebanon.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told CBS that, from his viewpoint as a physician, Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has “no specific ongoing health issues” despite not being seen or heard in public since the war with the U.S. and Israel began in February.

The interview will air Sunday.

In the transcript CBS released, Pezeshkian described his most recent meeting with Khamenei as lasting over seven hours. “But, of course, he was healthy enough to be able to withstand those hours of that situation. From a medical standpoint, he’s completely healthy,” the president said. When asked whether the supreme leader’s face and legs have recovered, Pezeshkian responded, “Yes.”

Khamenei’s father and other family members were killed on the opening day of the war.

Saudi Arabia’s military spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, claimed early Saturday that a ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen was intercepted and destroyed. He said it was fired toward the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait.

The Associated Press couldn’t immediately verify that independently. There was no immediate statement of responsibility, though it can take days for the Houthis to issue one.

A regional body representing Arab Gulf states, the Gulf Cooperation Council, condemned the latest Houthi attacks as a “grave escalation and threat to regional security” and urged the international community to respond.

Iraq said it is in direct contact with the U.S. to secure exemptions from sanctions on Iranian airlines as Washington continues economic pressure on Tehran.

The Iraqi prime minister’s office said the aim is to get exemptions for certain airports, noting flights for humanitarian reasons such as medical treatment, education and religious pilgrimages.

Many pilgrims in neighboring Iran visit sites such as Karbala and Najaf.

Before rejecting Iran's proposal Saturday, Trump posted an image on his Truth Social platform of the Strait of Hormuz labeled “Trump Strait." It is not the first time he has tried to antagonize Iran in this way.

The White House on Friday said only that U.S. officials were having positive and constructive conversations with mediators on the Iran war. Earlier in the week, Iran and the U.S. participated in hours of indirect talks.

Israeli settlers have intensified efforts to seize natural springs and heritage sites in the occupied West Bank. The springs are vital for drinking water, tourism and agriculture and increasingly inaccessible to the 2.8 million Palestinians living there.

In the Jordan Valley, settlers cut a water pipe to a Palestinian village, redirecting it to a pool they named after Herod, the Roman-appointed king of Judea. Israeli rights groups say the move is part of a broader effort to claim heritage sites.

The struggle for water access highlights the ongoing contest for control of the West Bank, where Palestinians have faced shortages since 1967.

This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Palestinians cool off at the site of Solomon's Pools an ancient water reservoirs located south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian signs a book before meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at United Nations headquarters during the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Yemenis wave national and Saudi flags as they celebrate the 64th anniversary of the September 26 Revolution in Taiz, Yemen, Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)