On 9 June this year, the Ministry of Economics, in cooperation with Microsoft, organised the Digital Sustainability Forum “Common Health Data Resource for Smart Health”. The forum took place on the Microsoft Teams digital platform, where more than 50 participants participated online – both policy makers from Latvia and the European Commission and representatives from the leading institutions related to healthcare in Latvia, including business associations, academic representatives, medical industry researchers and representatives of Latvia’s largest hospitals.
The aim of the Forum was to identify key principles for the development of both national and EU-wide regulatory frameworks in order to establish a rapid and cost-effective exchange of genome and other health data to create and apply artificial-intelligence AI solutions in health care. The focus was on a common European Health Data Resource (EHDR), in particular the legal, regulatory and technology framework requirements related to the development and usage of EHDR. The Forum was discussing the most pressing digital challenges, ranging from the development of AI and ethics to the use of data in personalised medicine. The Forum promoted common understanding and development opportunities for AI-based healthcare solutions. Data and AI can help to address many societal challenges, enabling progress in areas such as healthcare, education, agriculture and transport, safety and manufacturing.
The EU has the potential to become a world leader in the field of safe artificial intelligence. By creating a strong legal framework based on human rights and fundamental values, the EU can introduce an AI system that benefits citizens, businesses and the public sector. Scientists and practitioners face many challenges in using AI in health care, such as limited access to data, poor data quality, concerns about data management and the use of ethical data, including responsibility for data usage. Legal and regulatory requirements should provide the possibility to use AI in the health sector, including interconnected, properly managed national and EU-wide health data resources (EHDR) by developing a regulatory and technological framework for data management and usage.
However, new technologies inevitably also create complex issues and problems with the general public. Looking at the future of the partnership between artificial intelligence and society, it is important to find answers to a number of questions. Is AI designed and used responsibly? How to establish ethical principles for protecting people? How to manage and use genome and other health data more correctly? How to ensure that both healthcare professionals and patients understand the role and potential of AI in health care and want and are able to use the appropriate solutions? How to ensure the use of reliable technology and ethical data, particularly sensitive, health-related personal data, including data collection, processing, anonymising, etc.?
Specific, national and EU level recommendations for the ethical and safe use of AI in healthcare were drawn up during the Forum. Further, it is essential to continue work on the establishment of a legal framework already launched by the Ministry of Health – the establishment of the Biobank Law. The new biomedical legislation should take into account all risks and should be effective without prejudice to the opportunities provided by AI and innovation.
The Forum’s participants developed policy recommendations (“white paper”) for the ethical and safe use of AI in health care in six areas:
- definition of national and international regulations for fast and cost-effective genomic and other health data sharing and use;
- implementation of sharing genomic and other health data in international data platforms or consortia research safely and compliant with the GDPR plus national and international regulations;
- development of a legal framework for access and reuse of genomic and other health data from clinical diagnostics for secondary use in research;
- harmonisation and validation of genomic and other health data from various sources for use in developed IT health solutions;
- development of rules for commercialising intellectual property rights for innovation / inventions which have been developed using data from genome and other health data;
- systemisation of secure and convenient sharing of trustworthy information on health data between citizens and authorities in support of better management of the COVID-19 crisis.