PACKAGING: SERIALISE, TRACK & TRACE
The critical role of data in building trust in SA’s vaccination efforts
As the African country hardest hit by the coronavirus, South Africa has been regrettably slow with its vaccine rollout, with only 12 million of its 59 million citizens having received a vaccine dose at the time of publishing this article. The vaccination of the South African population against SARS-CoV-2 is the most ambitious and far-reaching healthcare initiative in the country’s history and continues to stretch the limits of our healthcare sector writes Mervyn George, executive advisor: strategic engagements at SAP Africa.
M
uch has been said about the slow pace of vaccine procurement and challenges with convincing parts of the population to vaccinate – thanks in no small part to the extraordinary disinformation campaigns flourishing on social media. However, one somewhat forgotten aspect risks being lost: the importance of data, and the protection thereof, in building trust in the process.
OPTIMAL USAGE AND PROTECTION OF PATIENT DATA Personal health data represents a particular challenge in terms of data security as a failure
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to protect such data could severely harm people and expose them to discrimination. For example, inadvertently sharing sensitive personal health data of a person living with a dread disease could affect their job prospects and livelihoods. A mix-up in personal health data could lead to someone receiving the incorrect diagnosis or, even worse, the wrong treatment. This can be lifethreatening under some circumstances. The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), which was finally implemented in full force in 2020, aims to give citizens greater control over how their personal data is stored, processed and used.
While all businesses that work with private data – including that of organisations and other juristic persons – are affected, it is arguably the healthcare sector that is under most pressure due to the ongoing pandemic and the unprecedented vaccine rollout effort.
WHERE IS MY DATA ANYWAY? The vaccine rollout in particular poses an immense challenge in terms of data security and privacy protection. Any clinic, hospital, private or public healthcare practitioner, medical aid or medicines firm needs to ensure they protect the personal healthcare data processed during the course of business.
