There are important and growing opportunities to use health data for improving health care quality, surveillance, health system management and research. But to leverage this potential while managing risks that might come from the misuse of data that are personal, appropriate governance frameworks are needed.

OECD Health Ministers welcomed the Recommendation of the OECD Council on Health Data Governance at their meeting in Paris on 17 January 2017. The Recommendation lays out the framework conditions to encourage greater availability and processing of health data within countries and across borders for health-related public policy objectives, while ensuring that risks to privacy and security are minimised and appropriately managed.

The Recommendation is the product of a multi-stakeholder consultation process. The Recommendation calls upon countries to develop and implement national health data governance frameworks according to twelve high level principles, setting the conditions for greater harmonisation so that more countries are able to benefit from statistical and research uses of data in which there is a public interest, and from international comparisons. 

• Read the Ministerial Statement

Download the OECD Legal Instrument:

• Recommendation of the Council on Health Data Governance
• Recommandation du Conseil sur la gouvernance des données de santé

• Presentation of the new Health Data Governance Recommendation - PDF version
  
  
• Health Data Governance Recommendation: Presentation from the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs - Access on SlideShare