The EU-funded action to strengthen health information systems

Abstract The European Commission initiative to build a European Health Union recognizes the need to address in a coordinated fashion the effects of the pandemic in health and social sectors and to strengthen the resilience, accessibility and effectiveness of health systems through co-operation, best practice exchange, training schemes, technical support and improved data and knowledge management. To make the most of the potential of health data, the European Health Data Space (EHDS) is being established as one of the central building blocks of a strong European Health Union. The EHDS sets out rules, common standards, infrastructures and a governance framework for the use of electronic health data for healthcare, research, innovation and policy making. In line with these policy goals, the European Commission is funding the Action ‘Supporting Member States in the WHO European Region in strengthening health information systems and boosting health data governance’. This Action will be implemented by WHO Regional Office for Europe and aims to boost the use and reuse of health data, including by promoting, where possible, the principles and solutions developed and implemented for the EHDS. It will also contribute to the objectives of the EU Global Health Strategy to improve global health security and deliver better health for all in a changing world. In addition, the Action is designed to strengthen countries’ capacity across critical programmatic areas of health data and digital health such as data quality (including appropriate data management and analytics) and digital health literacy across the 53 Member States in the WHO European region. The main objectives of the Action are to establish a Health Information Network for strategic guidance; and develop and implement tools and capacities to strengthen health information systems, health data governance, data quality and interoperability in countries.