WISH 2026 - World Innovation Summit for Health

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) is Qatar Foundation's global health summit, gathering policymakers, researchers, innovators, practitioners and philanthropists in Doha to work on policy, innovation and funding for the world's most pressing health problems. The eighth edition, WISH 2026, runs over two days under the theme "The New Health Span": helping people live longer lives in good physical, mental and social health.

Summit tracks

WISH 2026 is organised around five global health priorities, explored through panels, plenaries and roundtables.

• The Longevity Dividend: ageing biology, senescence and policies that extend healthy life
• Financing the Cure: paying for gene therapies, CAR-T and one-time cures
• AI & Human-Centered Health: AI that augments clinicians rather than replacing them
• Future of Fertility: reproductive technology, ethics and governance
• Health Diplomacy 2.0

Research reports

Each track is backed by a WISH evidence report written with international experts, for example the longevity report chaired by Andrea Maier and Hassan Al Mulla, the financing report chaired by Francesca Colombo (OECD) and Panos Kanavos (LSE), and the AI report chaired by Lord Darzi, WISH's Executive Chair, and Ahmed K. Elmagarmid of QCRI.

Innovation Showcase and youth competition

The WISH8 Innovation Showcase, run with the Qatar Research, Development and Innovation Council (QRDI), features selected health innovations on prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases, mental health and healthy ageing, and puts their founders in front of policymakers, investors and partners. Innovators of Tomorrow, run with the Qatar Scientific Club, is a science competition for high school students in Qatar.

Key figures

The previous edition, WISH 7 in November 2024, convened more than 4,000 delegates. Past editions have hosted speakers such as WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus; the WISH 2026 speaker line-up has not yet been announced.