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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Jean-Francois Luc, Office of Public Health Practice, Public Health Agency of Canada, 130 Colonnade, Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9, Canada, 613-954-6363, jfluc@phac-aspc.gc.ca

During a public health emergency, such as a pandemic influenza, the timely sharing of information, including personal health information, becomes critical to manage and contain diseases. In certain public health emergency situations, geographical and governmental borders are irrelevant. In Canada, some 23 privacy laws establish varying degrees of privacy protection and may hinder multilateral efforts to share information. This session will discuss legal components and new public health processes for multilateral information sharing during a public health emergency of national or international concern. A questions and answers session will follow.

The session seeks to create an awareness of cross-jurisdictional issues for sharing personal information with a particular focus on proposed solutions for public health emergencies. The feedback and questions that will be provided by the audience will provide additional input in the continued policy work on cross-jurisdictional information sharing, including identification of legal and operational barriers to cross-jurisdictional and international information sharing.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the key components of Canada’s new federated governance model for public health
• Describe the phases of Canada’s recent initiative to enable Federal, provincial and territorial (F/P/T) governments to share information during a public health emergency of national or international concern
• Discuss whether a provincial or territorial government can disclose personal information to another Canadian jurisdiction’s government without the individuals consent during a public health emergency
• Identify triggers to assist public health practitioners and health care providers in determining when they can disclose personal information during a public health emergency.
• Evaluate key best practices that F/P/T governments should consider in managing information received from another government entity.

Keywords: Challenges and Opportunities, Infrastructure

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation