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Health

Introduction

The health thematic module is designed to cover research, public health work, and provision of primary healthcare, all of which draw substantially upon data. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of reliable, accessible, and trusted health data to enable coordinated action. The governance and reusability of data in the health sector must combine respect for individual privacy rights with a focus on population and patient health. Data can be used to support access to healthcare across the many different healthcare systems of the world.

The health module draws on both primary indicators and secondary data sources to assess the governance of health data (primary indicator), the use of health data to make informed health decisions (primary indicator), and the availability of:

  • vital statistics (primary indicator);
  • healthcare system capacity data (secondary source);
  • real-time healthcare system capacity data (primary indicator).

This module pairs with the COVID-19 snapshot module, which additionally assesses the availability of:

  • vaccination data (primary indicator);
  • testing data (secondary source);
  • infection and mortality data (secondary source).

This module also has two related primary indicators focused on data availability that are located in other modules:

  • data about violence against women (primary indicator, crime and justice module);
  • road traffic accident data (primary indicator, transportation module).

We will be using secondary data from the Open Data Inventory to provide continuity with the ODB health indicators.

Prospective Indicators

Health Data and the Public Good

Health data is an important tool for achieving SDG 3, "Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages." Achieving this goal requires understanding and improving population health. Data from contemporary civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems are foundational for tracking progress on mortality (SDG 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, 3.6, 3.9). CRVS systems also provide basic health information that supports research on vaccines and medicines (SDG 3.B) and strengthen the capacity for managing national and global health risks (SDG 3.D).

Another aspect of achieving SDG 3 entails distributing healthcare resources equitably. Healthcare system capacity data supports governments and other actors in doing so - a goal particularly important in the midst of a global public health crisis. As the WHO COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan (SPRP 2021) notes, "Health care systems and workers...are under extreme pressure in many countries in terms of capacity and capabilities, financial resources, and access to vital commodities and supplies including medical oxygen" (8). Real-time or very recent data about a healthcare system's capacity is critical to directing patients to available care and distributing resources equitably and effectively. Data about healthcare system capacity and performance also plays a key role in helping determine the quality of available healthcare services.

At the same time, much health data is intimately personal, to the point of making de-identification extremely difficult and at times impossible. Privacy, of course, is a fundamental human right, recognized as such in the UN Declaration of Human Rights as well as a host of other international and regional covenants. As Privacy International notes, this includes the protection of personal data. Indeed, the need to protect personal data is explicitly called out in numerous international and regional agreements, as well as data protection and privacy laws at the national level. Consequently, health data requires careful, thoughtful governance.