PLoS Medicine
http://www.plosmedicine.org/
(Accessed 9 January 2016)

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Data Sharing as Part of the Normal Scientific Process: A View from the Pharmaceutical Industry
Patrick Vallance, Andrew Freeman, Murray Stewart
Perspective | published 05 Jan 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001936

In this week’s PLOS Medicine, Modjarrad and colleagues report the outcome of a World Health Organisation (WHO) consultation on developing global norms for sharing data and results during public health emergencies, with a focus on clinical, epidemiologic, and genetic features of emerging infectious diseases as well as experimental diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines [1]. There can be little doubt that the need to find effective health care solutions as quickly as possible to prevent or stop the spread of infectious disease in an emergency makes rapid data sharing the right thing to do for patients and society. Many of the barriers to data sharing in public health emergencies identified in the paper by Modjarrad et al. have been highlighted as areas for change to enable data sharing more generally [2,3]. We are perpetually in the midst of several health care crises, including those of neglected tropical diseases and other chronic diseases, for which data sharing has the potential to lead to faster and better solutions. As a matter of principle, we should be willing to share data without regards to which disease is being studied. So, which data and when?…

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Developing Global Norms for Sharing Data and Results during Public Health Emergencies
Kayvon Modjarrad, Vasee S. Moorthy, Piers Millett, Pierre-Stéphane Gsell, Cathy Roth, Marie-Paule Kieny
Policy Forum | published 05 Jan 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001935
Summary Points
:: Leading stakeholders from around the world convened at a WHO consultation in September 2015, where they affirmed that timely and transparent sharing of data and results during public health emergencies must become the global norm.
:: Representatives from major biomedical journals who attended the meeting agreed that public disclosure of information of relevance to public health emergencies should not be delayed by publication timelines and that early disclosure should not and will not prejudice later journal publication.
:: Researchers should be responsible for the accuracy of shared preliminary results, ensuring that they have been subjected to sufficient quality control before public dissemination.
:: Opting in to data sharing should be the default practice, and the onus should be placed on data generators and stewards at the local, national, and international level to explain any decision to opt out from sharing data and results during public health emergencies.
:: Incentives for sharing data should be created and tailored for each type of data generator and steward, while data management and analysis expertise is enhanced in under-resourced settings.

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Advancing Medical Professionalism in US Military Detainee Treatment
Leonard S. Rubenstein, Scott A. Allen, Phyllis A. Guze
Essay | published 05 Jan 2016 | PLOS Medicine
10.1371/journal.pmed.1001930
Summary Points
:: The United States Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) promulgated policies and requirements that required health professionals to participate in the mistreatment of counter-terrorism detainees through participation in such practices as abusive interrogation and force-feeding of detainees, in violation of ethical standards established by associations representing the health professions.
:: A report of the Defense Health Board to the Secretary of Defense on military medical ethics released in 2015 found that the Department of Defense “does not have an enterprise-wide, formal, integrated infrastructure to systematically build, support, sustain, and promote an evolving ethical culture within the military health care environment.”
:: The Board also found that ethical codes promulgated by the health professions, including the duty to avoid harm, provide a sound basis for military medical practice, even taking into account the unique challenges often faced by military health professionals in reconciling the military mission with patient needs.
:: The health professional community should urge the Secretary of Defense to adopt and implement the recommendations of the Defense Health Board, rescind directives authorizing participation of health professionals in interrogation and force-feeding because they are inconsistent with professional ethics, and provide ongoing advice and support for the reform process.