The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and BC Ministry of Health (MoH) today released their joint annual report on data sharing.
The Tripartite Data Quality Sharing Agreement report highlights First Nations specific linkages in 2015-2016 in areas such as the Opioid Overdose Public Health Emergency Surveillance Project; Health Expenditures in the Interior Region; the Provincial Health Officer Indicators Report on First Nations Health; Incidence, Mortality, Survival and Trends of Various Cancers; and Suicide and Cultural Continuity on BC First Nations Communities.
Through a unique agreement in 2010 FNHA, BC MoH, and Health Canada established a data quality and sharing agreement. The agreement is unique in Canada, and respects privacy and use of data specific to First Nations peoples in BC while overcoming policy barriers related to access, interpretation and utilization of relevant and accurate data. Health Canada is no longer a voting member at the Data and Information Planning Committee (DIPC), but continues to participate in the group as an adviser.
The original 2010 agreement was struck to fulfill a key commitment in the 2006 Transformative Change Accord: First Nations Health Plan to “renew the Tripartite agreement between the Province, Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch and First Nations to ensure federally and provincially held information on First Nations is shared.”
A Data and Information Planning Committee provides ongoing governance of the data and ensures data matches are culturally safe and respect the privacy of BC First Nations individuals and communities. The Committee has developed unique standards and procedures for data management and access to data, including who, what, when and how the partners and external researchers can access specific First Nations data.
The committee met six times in 2015 and five times in 2016 and worked on 22 separate data requests including:
• Opioids Overdose Public Health Emergency Surveillance Project between BC Centre for Disease Control, Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health.
• Health Expenditure Matrix Project, Interior Health Region
• Provincial Health Officer: Indicators Report on First Nations Health
• Incidence, Mortality, Survival and Trends over Time of Various Cancers among Registered Status Indians Living in British Columbia
• BC Provincial Diabetes Evaluation & Strategy
• Suicide and Cultural Continuity on BC First Nations Communities
Importantly, through this process, the partners continue to work towards full First Nations custody and control of specific First Nations data from the “First Nations Client File”. This is a shared commitment of the committee and the government partners they represent.
For more information on the Annual report, the work of the committee, Data Access Requests underway, lessons learned and more – read the TDQSA annual report
here.
