Healthcare AI Policy in 2026: Only 7 of 38 OECD Countries Have an AI Strategy

98% of patients welcome AI in their care — and still want a human in charge.
That tension ran through the OECD and Spanish Ministry of Health conference on scaling AI in health (Madrid, late May 2026), and it frames this episode of Faces of Digital Health. Out of 38 OECD countries, only seven have a formal AI strategy and just over a tenth run workforce upskilling programmes — the ambition is outrunning the institutions meant to govern it. Host Tjaša Zajc brings together voices from across the conference to ask what actually has to change: regulation, trust, who gets a seat at the table, and the parts of the agenda nobody is funding.
Featuring:
- Eric Sutherland — Senior Economist, OECD
- Aferdita Bytyqi — Executive Director & Founding Partner, Digital Transformations for Health Lab (DTH-Lab)
- Erza Selmani — Research Fellow, DTH-Lab
- Valentina Strammiello — Executive Director, European Patients Forum (EPF)
- Dr Ricardo Baptista Leite — CEO, HealthAI (the Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health)
- Dr Persephone Doupi — Senior Medical Officer, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare; President, European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI)
What the conversation covers:
- Why trust — not capability — is the binding constraint on health AI adoption
- The OECD readiness gap: AI strategies, HTA frameworks and workforce upskilling
- How patients really feel about AI: consent forms, transparency, and keeping clinicians central
- Why youth health and wellbeing keep getting left out of AI governance frameworks
- Five recommendations to make the EU AI Act work for health and competitiveness
- Coordinating the EU AI Act, MDR/IVDR and the European Health Data Space
- Health technology assessment and reimbursement as the real barriers to scale
- AI literacy and prevention: the most underweighted lever in the room

Chapters:
0:10 — Welcome: AI in Health & the 2026 OECD Conference in Madrid

0:25 — Key Stats: Only 7 of 38 OECD Countries Have a Formal AI Strategy

2:10 — Eric Sutherland (OECD): We're Not Using Data as Effectively as We Could

3:11 — Afrodita & Erza (DTH Lab): Youth Health Is Missing from AI Governance Frameworks

5:12 — Valentina Stramello (EPF): 98% of Patients Are Positive About AI, But Trust Requires Transparency

7:14 — Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite (Health AI): 5 Recommendations to Fix EU AI Policy for Health

10:53 — Persephone Doupi (EFMI): We Must Prioritize AI Literacy and Shift Healthcare Toward Prevention

—
🎧 Listen: https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com
📩 Newsletter (incl. written OECD conference summary): https://fodh.substack.com
💼 LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/company/12594967/
🌐 Site: https://www.facesofdigitalhealth.com
#DigitalHealth #HealthAI #AIinHealthcare #HealthPolicy #EUAIAct #EHDS #ResponsibleAI #PatientVoice #HealthTechAssessment #HealthTech