HIV researcher warns against protracted data freeze

published on September 10, 2012 in The Vancouver Sun

A freeze on access to medical data from the B.C. government has the potential to seriously undermine the health care system if it goes on too long, a prominent Vancouver medical researcher said Friday.

The government announced Thursday that it was temporarily suspending all data sharing with drug and evidence development researchers as part of an investigation into a privacy breach at the ministry that resulted in the firing of four employees and the suspension without pay of three others. The ministry also suspended $4 million in drug research contracts.

Dr. Julio Montaner, director of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, whose researchers use such data, praised the prompt and decisive action taken by the health ministry to address the issue and said he is confident the data freeze is necessary for security reasons in the short term.

But he warned that access to such data is critically important for researchers to be able to go about their daily work monitoring the safety and efficacy of drugs.

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© Copyright BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
St. Paul's Hospital 608–1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-8477 | Fax: 604-806-9044
General inquiries: info@bccfe.ca
Media inquiries: communications@bccfe.ca
(Please do not use any of these email addresses to send personal information or book an appointment. To book appointments or contact the H2H clinic, please call 604-416-1517 or fax: 604-564-4893. Do not send your or your client's personal information via email.)

Our work serves clients and communities across British Columbia on lands and waters cared for and nurtured by the many distinct First Nations across the province. The BC-CfE humbly and gratefully acknowledge the stewards of these lands, particularly the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) on whose unceded, traditional and ancestral territories our offices are located.