Precision health is an approach to health care that tailors medical treatment and prevention strategies to the specific characteristics of individuals. This includes considering differences in people's genes, environments, and lifestyles.
Precision health is increasingly being used to identify genetic risks associated with disease. This allows for earlier intervention, determining the most effective ways to treat cancer, and identifying differences in the way people respond to medicines.
The safe adoption of precision health aligns with the Government’s priorities for health care. Precision health technologies should be accessible, safe, effective, equitable, accountable and deliver value. To achieve these aims, the implementation of precision health technologies such as AI and genomics must be transparent, supervised, and evaluated in terms of their impacts on the health of all New Zealanders.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) in health refers to the application of AI technologies such as machine learning to analyse and interpret complex medical and health care data. AI can be used for diagnosis, treatment planning, drug development and patient monitoring. AI technologies can also assist with administrative tasks, freeing up clinicians to focus on patient care.
New Zealand is in the early stages of assessing how AI can be safely adopted to improve timely access to quality health care. For example, in February 2025, the Minister of Health announced an AI-equipped diabetes retinal screening pilot in South Auckland by Health New Zealand.
Genomics
Genetic testing has been available in New Zealand for many years and allows for the identification of specific genetic changes that result in disease, for example, in newborn screening. Genetic testing can also be used to assess risks of an individual or family developing some types of breast cancer and stomach cancer.
Genomics is a broader field that looks at a person’s genome and how genes interact with each other and the environment. Genomics helps us to understand how genes can cause certain health issues or diseases, and how different people or populations might respond to treatments. Genomics can help improve health outcomes by enabling a better understanding how our genes affect our health, as well as telling us about potential risks of disease throughout our lifetime.
The Ministry of Health’s leadership role
As steward of New Zealand’s health system, the Ministry of Health is working with Health New Zealand, other government agencies, and external advisory groups to guide the use of AI and genomics in New Zealand’s health system.
We are also working with international partners to share best practice examples and regulatory models before considering how they might inform New Zealand’s own unique health care context.
The work programme aims to identify and manage potential challenges associated with precision health. These include risk of discrimination; financial costs that could widen gaps in health outcomes; and potential privacy issues.
The Ministry’s work programme builds on its Long-term Insight Briefing: ‘Precision health: exploring opportunities and challenges to predict, prevent, diagnose and treat health needs more precisely in Aotearoa New Zealand’, published in 2023.
