(task) There Is An Urgent Need For An Improved Infrastructure To Share Health Data, Researchers Say : Science : Design & Trend

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http://www.designntrend.com/articles/28008/20141129/urgent-need-improved-infrastructure-share-health-data.htm

There Is An Urgent Need For An Improved Infrastructure To Share Health Data, Researchers Say

(Photo : Getty Images/Mark Wilson)

Over the last decade, we have witnessed the emergence of Superbugs, various strains of bird flu and now Ebola, which do not have geographical borders.
Consequently, there is a pressing need for international cooperation to control these pandemics.
In a new study, researchers have identified obstacles that are currently preventing the world from sharing health data, reports Science Daily.

While performing a literature search for the study, an international group of researchers discovered over 1,400 scientific articles related to sharing public health data. From those articles, they found two broad categories that need to be addressed.
The researchers found that technical and economic barriers exist in underdeveloped countries which will require funding to participate in a centralized database .
They also found political barriers in some countries that will require international organizations such as the World Health Organization to mediate a solution for sharing data.
"Data on disease surveillance, intervention coverage, vital statistics and mortality represent some of the most widely collected but also some of the most underused data," said Willem G. van Panhuis, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and lead author of the study.
"Identifying and classifying these barriers was the first step toward harnessing the potential of data for a new era in population health," he added.
"Innovative methods for collection of new data are developed all the time, but a framework to share all these data for the global good is seriously lacking. Investments in routine data systems will better position health officials to address ongoing challenges as well as new public health threats, such as the current Ebola epidemic in West Africa," van Panhuis continued.
"These barriers and categories describe a landscape of challenges that must be addressed comprehensively, not piecemeal," said Donald S. Burke, the dean of the School of Public Health at Pitt. "We must work together as a global community to develop solutions and reap the benefits of data-sharing, which include saving lives through more efficient and effective public health programs."
The study was published in the journal BMC Public Health.