Sharing research data on public health issues can promote expanded scientific inquiry and has the potential to advance improvements in public health. Although sharing data is the norm in some research fields, sharing of data in public health is not as firmly established. In March 2015, the National Research Council organized an international conference in Stellenbosch, South Africa, to explore the benefits of and barriers to sharing research data within the African context. The workshop brought together public health researchers and epidemiologists primarily from the African continent, along with selected international experts, to talk about the benefits and challenges of sharing data to improve public health, and to discuss potential actions to guide future work related to public health research data sharing. Sharing Research Data to Improve Public Health in Africa summarizes the presentations and discussions from this workshop.

Contents

• The National Academies of SCIENCES ENGINEERING MEDICINE
• STEERING COMMITTEE FOR A WORKSHOP ON STRENGTHENING SCIENCE TO INFORM PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY: OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO SHARING RESEARCH DATA IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
• COMMITTEE ON POPULATION 2015
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Context
  • BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES OF DATA SHARING IN THE AFRICAN CONTEXT: THE INDEPTH NETWORK
• 3. Establishing Equitable Terms for Data Sharing
  • DATA SHARING FOR GLOBAL HEALTH
  • DATA SHARING AS AN ELEMENT OF A DATA CONTINUUM
  • H3AFRICA CONSORTIUM: DATA SHARING, ACCESS, AND RELEASE POLICY
  • FAIR RESEARCH CONTRACTING
  • DATA PUBLICATION AND CITATION: THE PUBLISHERS' PERSPECTIVE
  • PLENARY DISCUSSION
  • BREAKOUT GROUP DISCUSSION: ESTABLISHING EQUITABLE TERMS FOR DATA SHARING
• 4. Exploring the Ethical Imperative for Data Sharing
  • OVERVIEW OF ETHICAL ISSUES
  • STAKEHOLDER PERSPECTIVES ON DATA SHARING IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES: FINDINGS OF A MULTISITE STUDY
  • PROMOTING BEST PRACTICES IN ETHICAL DATA SHARING
• 5. Enabling Data Discoverability, Linkage, and Re-use
  • MAXIMIZING ACCESS AND RE-USE OF RESEARCH DATA: LESSONS ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FROM THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
  • ENABLING DATA LINKAGE TO MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCH DATA: A PHRDF REPORT
  • BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS FOR DATA SHARING, LINKAGE, AND RE-USE
• 6. Next Steps: Maximizing the Use of Data to Improve Public Health
  • Ideas for Next Steps
  • Future Challenges
• Appendixes
  • Appendix A Workshop Agenda
  • Appendix B Participants

Rapporteurs: Mary Ellen O'Connell and Thomas J. Plewes.

Suggested citation:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2015). Sharing Research Data to Improve Public Health in Africa: A Workshop Summary. M.E. O'Connell and T.J. Plewes, Rapporteurs. Committee on Population, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project. This activity was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health through Contract No. 10001706, Order No. HHSN26300056.