Artificial intelligence has moved from small hospital trials to a core part of the UAE healthcare plan. The UAE Cabinet approved a national policy for digital healthcare services and artificial intelligence in the health sector in May 2026. The policy covers preventive, curative, rehabilitative, and operational care.
It also calls for stronger digital health infrastructure, AI skills for healthcare staff, data security, ethics, and clear health-data rules. The Cabinet also approved work on a federal law for smart health apps and AI health systems, with rules for safety, quality, approval, legal responsibility, and patient rights. This gives the UAE a clear and practical path from AI tests to wider clinical use at scale.
Abu Dhabi has placed early risk detection at the center of its health strategy. The 2026 Future Health theme, ‘To Sense is to Predict,’ links health data, sensors, genomics, and predictive analytics. The goal is simple: spot a health risk early and act before serious harm. Wearable devices can add real-time signals, while clinical and biological data can help doctors see a wider health picture.
This approach also has a clear population health role. Abu Dhabi’s Future Health program links digital health and AI with longevity, precision medicine, health system resilience, and life sciences. The program notes that chronic diseases could create USD 47 trillion in global costs by 2030, while nearly half of the world’s population lacks full access to essential health services. These figures give early detection a strong place in the UAE health agenda.
The Abu Dhabi Biobank adds another major layer to this strategy. The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and M42 developed the facility, which connects biological samples with genomic, lifestyle, and clinical data. It can store up to five million human samples and more than 100,000 cord blood units. The resource can support research, disease detection, drug development, and precise treatment.
M42 also plans to adopt Oracle Health Data Intelligence to unite clinical, genomic, and real-world data across its network. The system aims to support chronic disease care, population health programs, and precision medicine. Faster access to connected data can help clinicians and researchers find useful health signals with less delay.
AI now has a role in surgery. In May 2026, the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi announced an emirate-wide intelligent surgical network with Johnson & Johnson. The network will connect surgical rooms across Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, PureHealth, Mediclinic Group, and NMC Healthcare. Amazon Web Services, NVIDIA, and Core42 also support the initiative.
The network can give surgical teams access to clinical insights and advanced analytics before, in, and after procedures. The model can support clinical decisions, surgical education, care consistency, and research. Instead of one hospital trial of one tool, Abu Dhabi plans a connected system where data from many procedures can support future clinical tools.
Healthcare AI has a major role outside the hospital as well. In September 2026, PureHealth launched an AI solution for Daman that will process more than 60 million documents each year for more than three million members.
The system should convert more than 80 percent of documents into structured digital data. It should also cut document review time from days to minutes and reduce manual rework by more than 50 percent.
Faster document review can reduce delays, limit errors, and give Daman teams more time for fraud detection, clinical quality checks, and member support. This shows how AI can improve the patient experience without a treatment choice.
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The UAE has also placed a strong focus on safe AI use. The national health policy calls for security, ethics, data governance, safety standards, and clear legal responsibility. That focus matters as AI gains a larger role in diagnosis, surgery, insurance, research, and prevention.
The UAE now has the pieces of a connected AI health system: national policy, health data, genomics, clinical networks, AI tools, and a planned legal framework. If the UAE can link strong data with clinical evidence and clear rules, AI can shift from a technology inside healthcare to a core part of how healthcare works.