Developing Global Norms for Sharing Data and Results during Public Health Emergencies

Despite these reassurances from publishers, it was acknowledged that those generating data are often unable or unwilling to quickly transfer information beyond their research groups or collaborating networks because they either lack the technical capacity or harbour concerns that the data would be analysed and published without due recognition.\n Although countries were recognized to be the key arbiters of the dissemination of data collected from their populations, it was also noted that data ultimately belong to the individuals from whom they are collected. [...]in times of emergency, the onus should be placed upon the stewards of population- and individual-level data to justify if and why they are unwilling to share data for the good of public health. The tension between the speed of data dissemination and its accuracy was also acknowledged. [...]a mechanism for ensuring data quality must be embedded into any data sharing system, as major errors can degrade public confidence and have far-reaching impact.