Tina Dannemann Purnat, Unit Leader, on behalf of Dr Claudia Stein, Director, Division of Information, Evidence, Research and Innovation, WHO Regional Office for Europe, 67th session of the Regional Commitee for Europe

1. (1)
The role of big data in
improving the use of health information for
evidence-informed health policy
in Europe
Tina Dannemann Purnat, Unit Leader, on behalf of
Dr Claudia Stein, Director, Division of Information, Evidence, Research and Innovation

2. (2)
How can big data improve the use of
new and existing health information
and support evidence-informed policy
development?
Photo: WHO/David Barrett

3. (3)
Strategic generation and use of
information, evidence and
research are now more
important than ever
Public health research systems & health information is at the
core of evidence-informed policymaking.
• Crucial for measuring and understanding the health
status of populations and the impact of policies for
improving health and well-being
• The foundation for generating evidence to inform health
policy development
• Essential to to understanding the determinants that
influence the health and well-being of populations
Photo: WHO

4. (4)
The demands on health
information systems are increasing
• Health information systems are challenged
to respond to the needs of multisectoral and
increasingly complex policy action for
health.
• A health information system must be agile
to respond to policy needs and trends in
population health and impact of policies.
• Big data approaches may pose opportunities
that must still be defined to integrate and
harmonize the health information system.
Photo: WHO

5. (5)
For the purposes of our discussion, big data for health and well-being is understood to
include data sources and approaches that:
1. enable better use of new and/or existing data sources by
innovations in methods of analysis or integration/linking;
2. contribute to the collection of information, enable data
sharing, and feed into advanced analysis methodologies; and
3. allow identification of new data sources and analysis
methods.
Towards a definition of big data for health
Photo: WHO/D. Keckemet

6. (6)

7. (7)
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Czechia
Finland
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Italy
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Republic of Moldova
Romania
Russian Federation
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland
The former
Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia
Turkey
United Kingdom
European Commission
Wellcome Trust
European Public Health Association
EHII participants: 35 and growing

8. (8)
Highlights of global, regional and
subregional discussions on big data
• Statistical offices are exploring possible use
of new data sources for official statistics.
• UN Global Pulse is addressing how big data
can be used in development by enabling
faster access to insight from large amounts of
rapidly produced and diverse digital data.
• Data privacy, security and ethical concerns
need addressing.
• Raised awareness of the benefits of new
approaches, education and training,
standards for interoperability, and sustained
funding and resources are needed.
Photo: WHO/Franz Henriksen

9. (9)
Next steps for the European Health Information Initiative
WHO/Europe seeks input to define next steps to assess the
usefulness of big data in public health, by proposing the following
questions for discussion:
1. What are the information-specific opportunities and
barriers to the use of big data for health in WHO European
Member States?
2. Do we have good examples from the country level that
elucidate these?
3. Would Member States favour the development of a
European regional strategy on big data in health?
4. What would be concrete next steps under the European
Health Information Initiative to assess the usefulness of
big data in public health?
Photo: WHO/Sergey Volkov
(9)

10. (10)
www.euro.who.int
WHO Regional Office for Europe
UN City
Marmorvej 51
DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark
Thank you