How the DHA and Dubai government teams can bring AI into care under the UAE health data law

Dubai already has the rules a government health team needs to bring AI into care at scale. Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 sets how health data is kept and exchanged, the DHA's AI policy sets how AI is governed and audited, NABIDH carries the record across the emirate, and the Dubai Longevity Authority adds an integrated longevity database. A platform that meets all four lets the government measure what AI gives back to patients and doctors.

The foundation is already in law

Federal Law No. 2 of 2019 applies to every use of information and communication technology in health across the UAE, in every emirate and every zone.¹ Its stated aims include the optimal use of that technology in health, standards that match their international counterparts, and the security and safety of health data.¹ It asks the Ministry to establish a central system to keep, exchange and collect health data, and to set a national strategic plan for technology in health with the health authorities.¹

The law asks health authorities and providers to ensure their information systems are compatible and interoperate, to record the Emirates ID number in all health transactions and files, and to keep health data for at least 25 years from the last health procedure.¹ It says health data about care given in the UAE may not be stored, processed or transferred outside the country unless a health authority resolution allows it.¹ wai hosts your clinic's records in the UAE, under the UAE's rules. We set this up with your clinic.

The DHA's AI policy gives government a framework to lead

The DHA's policy on artificial intelligence in healthcare applies to DHA licensed facilities and professionals, and to health insurers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, public health entities and researchers that use AI in Dubai.² It rests on five principles, ethics, accountability, transparency, safety and security, and privacy.²

Section 4.10 gives the DHA's Health Regulation Sector a clear mandate. It sets the regulatory framework for safety, privacy, transparency and ethics, monitors compliance through audit, inspection and the reports it receives from end users, and adopts a framework that evaluates AI across inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes.² It also develops a monitoring and evaluation framework for every healthcare AI stakeholder in the emirate.² A government team that deploys AI on a platform built to report against those four domains can show the result of every tool it approves.

NABIDH carries the record

The DHA's interoperability standard applies to all DHA licensed health facilities, and its purpose is the trusted and secured flow of information among patients, providers, funders and health regulators, and data-driven decisions that lead to better outcomes.³ By the end of June 2025, NABIDH held more than 10.41 million records from nearly 1,888 licensed facilities, sent through 91 record systems.⁴ Every system that writes to it in HL7 version 2, and supports FHIR and IHE messaging as the standard asks, adds to a national asset.³

wai is built to connect to NABIDH. We set up your clinic's connection with you.

Longevity, with its own authority

Law No. 17 of 2026 created the Dubai Longevity Authority, and its duties include building an integrated longevity database with clinical indicators, drawing on data held by other entities.⁵ The law asks the authority and the DHA to agree a unified protocol on how the information of people receiving longevity services is managed and protected, and on the digital systems used in the sector.⁵ On 27 September 2026 its strategy was approved, with a target of more than AED 35 billion in contribution to Dubai's economy over the next decade.⁶ Structured, signed records from every longevity visit are what that database is built from.

Why it is worth doing now

Dubai had about 5,800 licensed health facilities in 2025 and more than 69,400 professionals in the private sector, both up more than 8% in a year.⁷ The doctors in that workforce gain most from AI that lifts documentation. In a randomised trial of 66 practitioners published in NEJM AI, an ambient AI scribe cut time spent on notes by about 22 minutes a day without lowering note quality, coding or billing compliance.⁸ Across a workforce of Dubai's size, that time returns to patients.

What a government team can ask of any AI platform

1. Where every record is hosted, in writing, and how it meets Article 13 of Federal Law No. 2 of 2019.
2. How it writes to NABIDH, in which standards, and how it handles an opted out patient.
3. Which functions are AI enabled, how each was validated, and its auditable validation statement, as section 4.6 of the DHA policy asks.
4. How it reports performance against inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes, so the Health Regulation Sector can evaluate it.
5. How a professional reviews, corrects and signs every AI output before it reaches a patient.

Where wai fits

wai gives a government health team one platform for the front desk, the consultation and the patient's app, built to meet each of these rules. wai Clinicians drafts the note while the doctor talks and sends nothing until the doctor has signed, so every AI output has a named professional behind it. wai Admin answers patients in Arabic and English, and wai Profile gives each patient their records and results on their phone. Our team works with your programme leads to set the measures your evaluation framework needs, and reports them from the first month.

Questions

What is Federal Law No. 2 of 2019?

It is the UAE federal law on the use of information and communication technology in health fields. It covers confidentiality and integrity of health data, a central system for exchanging it, compatibility between systems, the Emirates ID in health records, a minimum retention of 25 years and limits on storing health data outside the UAE.

Is there an AI policy for healthcare in Dubai?

Yes. The Dubai Health Authority's policy on artificial intelligence in healthcare applies to licensed facilities and professionals, insurers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, public health entities and researchers using AI in Dubai, and gives the DHA's Health Regulation Sector the role of monitoring and evaluating AI.

What is the Dubai Longevity Authority?

It is a public corporation created by Law No. 17 of 2026 to regulate longevity activity in Dubai. Its duties include writing standards for the sector and building an integrated longevity database, in coordination with the DHA.

What does the Dubai Health Authority do with NABIDH?

The DHA runs NABIDH, Dubai's health information exchange, and sets the interoperability standard that all DHA licensed facilities follow to share records with it.

Sources

1. 1Federal Law No. (2) of 2019 Concerning the Use of the Information and Communications Technology in Health Fields, 2019articles 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 13, 20 and 21, English text published by the Dubai Health Authority on ISAHDRead source
2. 2Dubai Health AuthorityArtificial Intelligence in the Healthcare policy, DHA/HISHD/PP-09, sections 2, 4.6 and 4.10Read source
3. 3Dubai Health Authority, 2025Standards for Interoperability and Data Exchange, DHA/HISHD/ST-02, issue 2, effectiveRead source
4. 4ARN News Centre, 2025Dubai's NABIDH platform surpasses 10 million medical recordsRead source
5. 5Government of Dubai, 2026Law No. (17) of 2026 Establishing the Dubai Longevity Authority, articles 6 and 14, Dubai Legal PortalRead source
6. 6The National, 2026Sheikh Hamdan says Dubai longevity drive can improve health and deliver Dh35bn economic boostRead source
7. 7Dubai Media Office, 2026Dubai's healthcare ecosystem posts record growth in 2025Read source
8. 8Afshar M and colleagues, 2025A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial of Ambient Artificial Intelligence to Improve Health Practitioner Well-Being, NEJM AIRead source

Written and reviewed by the clinical team at wai. Last reviewed 11 October 2026.