Healthdata’s mission is to facilitate the data exchange between healthcare professionals and researchers to increase public health knowledge in Belgium.

The initiative “#dataforbetterhealth” aims to identify the existing impediments for a FAIR data policy in public health and to formulate, test and implement solutions for these impediments  in order to achieve an integrated data access policy. These solutions must be technically, semantically, economically and legally sustainable. In addition, a widely supported governance model needs to be elaborated.

The spread of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the resulting outbreak of the disease COVID-19 has faced Belgium and most other countries worldwide with unprecedented challenges. During the crisis, active surveillance systems have been put in place to monitor in real-time the number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths. These data provide valuable insights in the direct health impact of COVID-19 in Belgium, in terms of the number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths.

AHEAD explores the possibilities of integrating the data that exist within the Belgian health information system and facilitating its use for scientific exploitation and valorisation. In the longer term, the project aims to contribute to the development of a national health data platform.

Sciensano is responsible for the epidemiological monitoring of the COVID-19 epidemic and is also involved in scientific research projects on this disease.

In collaboration with its partners and other health actors, Sciensano coordinates and participates in various research projects aimed at better understanding the virus and its effects on the health of the population.