Next 24 January, from 9:00 to 6:00 pm, The meeting “(Re)utilização de dados em investigação e inovação em saúde” ((Re)use of data in health research and innovation) will take place. The event is organized by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), through the Department of Community Medicine, Health Information and Decision (MEDCIDS), in partnership with the University Hospital Center of São João (UHCSJ) and the CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research. The venue will be the Aula Magna of FMUP.

MEP Maria Manuel Leitão Marques will be one of the speakers at this meeting, with a conference entitled “European Vision on Open Data and the Reuse of Public Sector Information”. The intervention is scheduled for noon.

“This meeting is the centerpiece of the initiative we are developing on the reuse of health data for research and innovation to evolve the way different stakeholders work in the big data area and in health decision in Portugal”, underlines João Fonseca, CINTESIS researcher and professor at FMUP.

In this new decade, he continues, “health decisions and policies need more and better data. In health, an impressive set of databases has been created, but they have been underused. Its potential is enormous and, in the context of the resources and needs we have, it cannot be wasted.”

The researcher, therefore, believes that “a broad debate is urgently needed, resulting in concrete proposals on the reuse of health data for research and innovation”.

One of the objectives of this event is the elaboration of a collaborative document that identifies the SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) of data reuse for health research and innovation regarding access and security, data quality and integrations and economic sustainability.

“The first moment of possible participation in the SWOT analysis is immediately upon registration for the meeting. We will gather the information produced during the meeting and make an initial version of the document. We are involving a very wide range of people and entities to participate in a “review group” that will produce the final version of the document,” explains João Fonseca.

In addition to MEP Maria Manuel Leitão Marques, the event will be attended by the chairman of the UHCSJ Board of Directors and FMUP professor, Fernando Araújo, the Vice-Rector of the University of Porto, Pedro Rodrigues, and representatives of the Central Administration of the Health System will attend the meeting (ACSS), the Shared Services of the Ministry of Health (SPMS), the Portuguese Association of Hospital Administrators (APAH), the Health Regulatory Authority (ERS), the Health Cluster Portugal (HCP), and the pharmaceutical industry, among others.

The meeting on will be part of a broader program of initiatives developed by MEDCIDS / FMUP, in collaboration with UHCSJ and CINTESIS. This was the case of the meeting “Commissions of Ethics and Health Research – Impact of Changes in the Law and Challenges for the Future”, which took place on October 28th, also at FMUP’s Aula Magna, attended by several specialists from all over the country.

Register for this event and/or participate in the SWOT reviews here.

More information at email.