Sharing data during Zika and other global health emergencies

Hannah Isom

1 year ago

Aedes mosquito. Credit: Wellcome Images

We’re joining over 30 global health bodies in calling for all research data gathered during the Zika virus outbreak, and future public health emergencies, to be made available as rapidly and openly as possible. It follows a consensus statement arising from a WHO consultation in September 2015, in which leading international stakeholders affirmed that timely and transparent pre-publication sharing of data and results during public health emergencies must become the global norm. The statement is published in full below:

Statement on data sharing in public health emergencies

The arguments for sharing data, and the consequences of not doing so, have been thrown into stark relief by the Ebola and Zika outbreaks.

In the context of a public health emergency of international concern, there is an imperative on all parties to make any information available that might have value in combatting the crisis.

We are committed to working in partnership to ensure that the global response to public health emergencies is informed by the best available research evidence and data, as such:

Journal signatories will make all content concerning the Zika virus free to access. Any data or preprint deposited for unrestricted dissemination ahead of submission of any paper will not pre-empt its publication in these journals.
Funder signatories will require researchers undertaking work relevant to public health emergencies to set in place mechanisms to share quality-assured interim and final data as rapidly and widely as possible, including with public health and research communities and the World Health Organisation.

We urge other organisations to make the same commitments.

This commitment is in line with the consensus statement agreed at a WHO expert consultation on data sharing last year whereby researchers are expected to share data at the earliest opportunity, once they are adequately controlled for release and subject to any safeguards required to protect research participants and patients.

Signatories to the Statement

Academy of Medical Sciences, UK
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
The BMJ
Bulletin of the World Health Organization
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
The Department of Biotechnology, Government of India
The Department for International Development (DFID)
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
eLife
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
F1000
Fondation Mérieux
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz)
The Institut Pasteur
Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED)
The JAMA Network
The Lancet
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
National Academy of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, USA
National Science Foundation, USA
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
PLOS
Science Journals
South African Medical Research Council
Springer Nature
UK Medical Research Council
Wellcome Trust
ZonMw – The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development

An up to date list of signatories is available on our website. If your organisation would like to become a signatory to the statement, please email Katherine Littler.

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Declaración sobre el uso compartido de datos en emergencias de salud pública

Las razones para compartir información, y las consecuencias de no hacerlo, se han puesto de relieve en los brotes de Ébola y Zika.

En una situación de emergencia de salud pública en el ámbito internacional, es imprescindible que todas las partes faciliten cualquier información relevante para combatir la crisis.

Tenemos el compromiso de colaborar estrechamente para asegurar que la respuesta mundial a las emergencias de salud pública se fundamente en pruebas y datos científicos de la mayor calidad posible, y así:

Los responsables de una publicación permitirán el libre acceso a los contenidos relativos al virus Zika. Ninguna información o versión preliminar depositada para su divulgación ilimitada antes de la entrega de un artículo tendrá preferencia de publicación en esas revistas.
Los responsables de la financiación solicitarán a los científicos implicados en trabajos relevantes para las emergencias de salud pública que establezcan mecanismos para compartir información fidedigna tanto provisional como definitiva con tanta celeridad y difusión como sea posible, incluyendo a las comunidades científicas y de salud pública y a la Organización Mundial de la Salud.

Instamos a otras organizaciones a establecer los mismos compromisos.

Este compromiso es conforme a la declaración alcanzada por consenso el pasado año en una reunión de expertos de la OMS sobre el uso compartido de datos, mediante la cual se espera que los científicos compartan información con la mayor urgencia posible, una vez que su transmisión esté convenientemente controlada y sujeta al amparo requerido para proteger a los participantes en la investigación y a los pacientes.

Firmantes de la declaración