📣 #MyHealthFutures Youth Network capacity-strengthening webinar - AI: From the Unknown to Informed Confidence
On the sidelines of #WHA79, this open-access virtual session hosted by DTH-Lab #MyHealthFutures Youth Network will bring together young people from around the world to build confidence and strengthen capacity on AI through peer learning and discussion.
The session will be led by Regional Youth Champion for Sub-Saharan Africa, Kiburan Kibret, alongside former Regional Youth Champions and Research Fellow Yifan Zhou, Sohayla Eldeeb and Erza Selmani. Together, they will explore how young people can move from uncertainty to informed confidence in navigating AI and digital health.
📅 Monday, 18 May 2026
⏰ 13:00–14:00 CET
🔗 Register now: link in bio
Interested to join #MyHealthFuture Youth Network – visit https://loom.ly/v6bP7jY
🔉DTH-Lab at #WHA79
With AI, digital healthcare and the wider impact of digital technologies on health and well-being firmly on the global agenda, the DTH-Lab team will be joining global health leaders, civil society advocates, digital health innovators and policymakers at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva to share insights and drive conversation on equitable digital transformation.
Across the week, Director Ilona Kickbusch, Executive Director Aferdita Bytyqi, Youth Engagement Coordinator Whitney Gray and Regional Youth Champion Katherine Feng will be speaking at a range of events, sharing key findings from our work on building inclusive digital health systems, strengthening youth engagement and harnessing digital innovation to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
🔗 Heading to #WHA79? Visit our #WHA79 event page to know where you will find us: link in bio
⏰ Coming soon! Shaping AI governance for young people
On 28th May, DTH-Lab will launch Shaping AI governance for young people: Perspectives on health, policy and regulation at the Ministry of Health of Spain and @the_oecd Conference on the Responsible Scale of AI in Healthcare in Madrid.
The publication, chaired by DTH-Lab Founding Partner Rohinton Medhora, brings together four papers by young researchers exploring the relationship between AI, health and young people, and examining how governance frameworks can better protect and empower younger generations in the AI era.
In addition to launching the publication, DTH-Lab Director Ilona Kickbusch will facilitate a session on Shifting the Patient-Provider Relationship which features Executive Director Aferdita Bytyqi and Researcher Erza Selmani as speakers.
📊 2025 in numbers
The DTH-Lab’s Annual Report 2025 reflects both scale and impact:
🔹12700+ views of journal articles
🔹36 research and knowledge products
🔹28 global partnerships
🔹4000 young people engaged
🔹1000+ #MyHealthFutures network members
🔹46 events convened
🔹100+ events participated in
Behind these numbers is a growing movement to ensure digital transformations in health are equitable, inclusive and shaped by young people.
Read more in the Annual Report 2025: link in bio
🇮🇸 DTH-Lab Director Ilona Kickbusch gave one of the opening presentations at the first day of the Planet Youth 2026 conference in Iceland.
Ilona spoke about the digital determinants of adolescent well-being and range of upstream governance and community-level actions required to address them. She highlighted the importance of considering digital environments as settings for harm prevention and promoting young people's well-being.
🔗 Learn more about the digital determinants of health https://tr.ee/SjgXp8
#PYConference26 @planetyouthofficial
Welcome to the DTH-Lab Annual Report 2025. Celebrating a year where digital transformations in health moved to the top of the global agenda.
Working alongside and in collaboration with national, regional and international partners, agencies and youth organizations we:
🌐 Created a framework for digitally enabled health systems
🤖 Shaped AI governance and advanced data solidarity
🚸 Positioned the digital determinants of health as a public health priority
🤝 Provided young people with spaces and opportunities to shape their health futures
A huge thank you to our funder @fondation_botnar and all the partners who made this work possible.
📘 Read it now: link in bio
🌐 Young people are growing up in a digital world – but too often they are missing from the decisions shaping the future of health systems.
Our new report, ‘Co-creation: A new standard in working with youth as partners in designing health futures’ is anchored in DTH-Lab's experience working with young people since 2020 – this has included young people positioned in significant roles and research, partnership development, advocacy and youth engagement at the global and regional levels.
The report provides guidance for organizations working with young people, academic researchers and policymakers seeking to adopt similar co-creation approaches both within and beyond the health sector.
Read the report: link in bio
🌏Digital citizenship for health – a youth-authored series for PLOS Digital Health
Digital technologies are reshaping health globally – but without equity and participation, many risk being left behind. The concept of Digital Citizenship for Health (DC4H) goes beyond access. It’s about empowering people, especially youth, to shape the digital health systems defining their futures.
This youth-authored series, published last year as part of a strategic partnership between @plosjournals Digital Health and @dthlab , brings together global perspectives on digital citizenship for health in practice.
📣Young authors highlight that technology alone cannot improve health outcomes – progress depends on digital, health and civic literacy, trust in institutions and inclusive governance that amplifies all voices. Across diverse contexts, they explore how #DC4H helps:
📶Bridge the digital divide in low- and middle-income countries
☑️Build trust and confidence in digital health platforms 💭Ensure health policies reflect lived realities and youth perspectives
By centring youth voices, this collection underscores why digital citizenship for health is essential for equitable, democratic and sustainable health futures.
📗 Explore the full collection here: link in bio
At the upcoming Planet Youth Conference 2026, our Director Ilona Kickbusch will explore the digital determinants of adolescent health – unpacking how technology, data and digital access shape young people’s well-being.
Join us at the 2026 @planetyouthofficial Conference: Communities leading sustainable change
🗓️May 6–8, 2026
📍Hotel Reykjavík Grand, Iceland
🔗Learn more about the event: https://loom.ly/_mBR9MI / link in bio
#PlanetYouth2026 #DigitalDeterminantsOfHealth
🤖AI is shaping our future – but who is shaping AI?
In this latest blog -From the unknown to informed confidence: youth reflections on ethical AI, governance and the future of health - Yifan Zhou, Erza Selmani and Sohayla Eldeeb – Regional Youth Champion and Research Fellow alumni of DTH-Lab – explore critical questions around bias, data ownership, youth inclusion and the risks of unchecked AI development.
Their reflections follow participation in DiploFoundation’s AI Apprenticeship, part of the DTH-Lab and Diplo partnership aimed at strengthening youth capacity in AI, digital health and governance. Through this experience, they engaged in intergenerational learning and deepened their understanding of ethical and inclusive AI policymaking.
Read their reflections to explore the role of AI in health and society: link in bio
🎥 Missed our Research Fellows dissemination series 2026? Watch the recordings now!
Our two-part Research Fellowship Dissemination Series 2026 brought together research fellows from Africa, the Caribbean and Asia to share their research findings on how digital transformation is shaping young people’s health and well-being.
Across the sessions, fellows explored topics ranging from AI governance, digital nutrition and youth engagement, to data solidarity, digital citizenship and digital childhoods – offering fresh insights to inform policy, practice and future research.
Watch both the sessions:
▶️ Session 1: Designing healthy digital futures for young people I https://tr.ee/hEiN4A
▶️ Session 2: Governing digital health systems to promote solidarity, equity and youth well-being I https://tr.ee/uqgF31
Read all our Research Fellows publications: link in bio
⚖️ Last month’s landmark rulings against Meta and Google in the US mark a pivotal moment for public health and for accountability in big tech.
But what can we learn from the past?
In a new opinion piece for the BMJ, DTH-Lab Director Ilona Kickbusch reflects on the history of tobacco litigation, the parallels with social media and where the comparison ends.
These rulings challenge the idea that platforms are neutral. Instead, they point to familiar patterns, including the knowledge concealment playbook that once delayed action on tobacco.
But there’s a key difference. Unlike tobacco, social media can’t simply be taxed into submission. This makes litigation even more critical – generating the evidence the public health community needs to act.
With the World Health Assembly coming up next month, there is a clear call to action for member states to start a process towards a Framework Convention on Digital Product Safety for Children.
🔗 Read the article: link in bio
