To fully harness the potential of health data for public benefit and improved health outcomes, while also managing risks, protecting individual rights, and ensuring people’s data is protected from misuse, it is important to strengthen the governance of health data through more robust, effective and equitable legislation and regulation. While several countries and regions are taking steps to address this, approaches vary. By countries and other stakeholders coming together, this provides an opportunity to build on experiences and good practices, and establish a level of consensus around the essential elements that should be included in national legislation and regulation.
Government leadership on this issue is critical. Building on growing political support around the need to strengthen health data governance legislation and regulation - including during last year’s World Health Assembly - this side event during the 77th World Health Assembly will bring together experts in this field, together with country leadership, to build the consensus needed to drive this agenda forward.
