The statement from our Board of Trustees member Nicole Formica-Schiller addresses the European Commission’s proposal, dated 3rd May 2022, for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Health Data Space. The central message: the EHDS should be seen as an opportunity, but still requires some preparatory measures to develop its full impact.
As outlined by the European Commission (Commission) Proposal, dated May 3rd, 2022, for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Health Data Space, the general objective of the intervention is to establish the rules governing the EHDS to ensure natural persons’ access and control over their own health data, to improve the functioning of the single market for the development and use of innovative health products and services based on health data.
Based on the publication’s overview of key findings and recommendations on the EHDS, its challenges, its implications, without any doubt that the potential of the EHDS is significant. In particular, as it would represent one of the largest health databases in the world providing data on over 500 million Europeans and coverage across to diverse healthcare systems. Therefore, the EHDS should be seen as a major opportunity for an advanced, interconnected digital healthcare ecosystem. In particular, for the current German federal government, elected in September 2021, has placed a specific focus on driving forward the digitalization of the healthcare system.
