Transform Health, a global coalition committed to achieving Universal Healthcare through the use of digital technologies and data is currently leading the development of globally unifying, human rights-based Health Data Governance Principles that can provide a common vision for health data governance. The Principles are aimed to support the safeguarding of data privacy, ownership, and security at different governance levels.
The Principles are clustered around three overarching objectives as listed below:
- Protect people (individuals and communities, build trust in data systems, and ensure data security).
- Promote health value (facilitate innovation using health data, promote data sharing and interoperability, and enhance health systems and services).
- Prioritize equity (establishing data rights and ownership, and promoting equitable benefit from health data).
Advocacy for the adoption of the Principles is taking place in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, South East, and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, North America, and the Pacific regions. The aim is to advocate for a global health data governance framework (based on principles of equity and human rights). This includes calling for a World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution on this issue, at the 75th WHA to be held from 22-28 May 2022.
Transform Health‘s main partners for this initiative are: WHO, World Bank, PATH, Digital Square, and regional and national health informatics associations. Leading the advocacy drive in Botswana is the Pan African Health Informatics Association (HELINA) in collaboration with the Botswana Health Information Management Association (BOHIMA). Key stakeholders in the country’s health system ( including International organizations, NGOs, Civil Society, Universities, Ministry of Health,) will be engaged on the aforementioned principles so as to seek their perceptions and attitudes. The engagement will also discuss the need for a global health data governance framework.