Multiple modes of data sharing can facilitate secondary use of sensitive health data for research.

Evidence-based healthcare relies on health data from diverse sources to inform decision-making across different domains, including disease prevention, aetiology, diagnostics, therapeutics and prognosis. Increasing volumes of highly granular data provide opportunities to leverage the evidence base, with growing recognition that health data are highly sensitive and onward research use may create privacy issues for individuals providing data. Concerns are heightened for data without explicit informed consent for secondary research use.

Record linkage for routinely collected health data in an African health information exchange.

Introduction: The Patient Master Index (PMI) plays an important role in management of patient information and epidemiological research, and the availability of unique patient identifiers improves the accuracy when linking patient records across disparate datasets. In our environment, however, a unique identifier is seldom present in all datasets containing patient information. Quasi identifiers are used to attempt to link patient records but sometimes present higher risk of over-linking.

Evaluation of a public COVID-19 dashboard in the Western Cape, South Africa: a tool for communication, trust, and transparency.

Background: Public health dashboards have been used in the past to communicate and guide local responses to outbreaks, epidemics, and a host of various health conditions. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, dashboards proliferated but the availability and quality differed across the world. This study aimed to evaluate the quality, access, and end-user experience of one such dashboard in the Western Cape province, South Africa.

The next generation: Pregnancy in adolescents and women living with perinatally acquired HIV in South Africa.

Background: An increasing number of girls living with perinatally acquired HIV (PHIV) are reaching adolescence and adulthood and becoming pregnant. Youth living with PHIV (YLPHIV) may have HIV-associated infections/complications, long-term exposure to antiretroviral treatment (ART), drug resistance and increased psychosocial challenges, which may adversely affect pregnancy outcomes. There is a lack of published studies on pregnancy in YLPHIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

Data Centre Profile: The Provincial Health Data Centre of the Western Cape Province, South Africa.

Introduction: The Western Cape Provincial Health Data Centre (PHDC) consolidates person-level clinical data across government services, leveraging sustained investments in patient registration systems, a unique identifier, and maturation of administrative and clinical digital health systems.

Objectives: The PHDC supports clinical care directly through tools for clinicians which integrate patient data or identify patients in need of interventions, and indirectly through supporting operational and epidemiological analyses.

Methods: The PHDC is housed entirely within government.