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The government has released a draft health data management policy which will serve as guiding principle for protecting data privacy of people who are willing to enroll for the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM).
As per the draft policy, on which public comments are invited till September 3, anybody enrolled for the health mission will get a Health ID free of cost and they will have complete control over their individual personal data. People are free to take back the consent already given in order to restrict any sharing of personal data linked to the ID.
The NDHM was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day address on August 15.
The main objective of this draft policy is to provide adequate guidance and to set out a framework for handling sensitive personal data of individuals participating in the mission in accordance with all applicable laws and international standards. It also defines the set of frameworks of consent for the collection and processing of health data by healthcare practitioners and other entities. It also puts forward relevant standards to meet data interoperability and data sharing.
“Government of India is working to ensure strong privacy of health data and therefore, we are circulating the Draft Health Data Management Policy of NDHM to increase awareness of the importance of data privacy and instill a privacy-oriented mindset among all the stakeholders and participants of the ecosystem,” said Indu Bhushan, Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority (NHA), in a statement on Wednesday.
He said suggestions and comments from experts and general public would help finalise the policy and thus make the implementation of the mission stronger and more effective.
The policy stipulates that any agency or personnel that have access to personal medical data of people enrolling in the NDHM will have to formulate and implement a personal data breach management mechanism and this will be publicly displayed.
Any instance of unauthorised or accidental disclosure or sharing of personal data that compromises its confidentiality and integrity should have to be reported promptly to the NHA and other relevant authorities.
The persons responsible for such a breach will be liable to punished according to the provisions of the applicable law, it said.
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