WHO | Sharing and reuse of health-related data for research purposes: WHO policy and implementation guidance

Purpose and scope
The purpose of this document is to clarify the policy and practice on the reuse and onward sharing for research purposes of health data collected under the auspices of WHO technical programmes. This covers use in both emergency and non-emergency situations and complements the following: the Policy on use and sharing of data collected in Member States by the World Health Organization (WHO) outside the context of public health emergencies; the Policy statement on data sharing by the World Health Organization in the context of public health emergencies; and the Joint statement on public disclosure of results from clinical trials. This policy covers the reuse of health data for research purposes. Its scope includes research data generated by research undertaken directly by WHO, or funded by WHO, as well as the use of other health data for research purposes.
This document sets out the objectives of this WHO policy and the obligations of WHO staff and researchers funded by WHO. The following section of this document entitled Guidance on the implementation of the WHO policy on the sharing
and reuse of health-related data for research purposes provides further references and resources to assist in the development of a data management and sharing plan that is in alignment with the vision of this policy