Experts from the Spanish Data Protection Agency and the Galician Health Service cooperate in Central America

The awareness-raising course on the importance of personal data protection in the health sector has been successfully concluded, with the attendance of more than 50 officials from Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Spanish public administration officials from the Spanish Data Protection Agency and the Galician Health Service collaborated as experts.

The course has responded to the concerns expressed by the relevant entities in each country, which, after identifying common challenges in terms of the lack of knowledge of health sector personnel regarding data protection, requested the organization of this training.

Some of the topics covered included proactive management and security measures, detection and management of security breaches, the role of the data protection officer, and the use of health data for healthcare management and clinical research.

Participants have highlighted this opportunity for peer-to-peer learning and collaboration in an environment of dialogue with the experts mobilized. This activity has contributed to raising awareness of the importance of personal data governance in the health sector, providing knowledge adapted to the reality of each of the countries involved. It is therefore a pilot project at the regional level. 

The training was inaugurated by Eva Martínez Sánchez, Ambassador of Spain in Costa Rica; Matteo Banti, Regional Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation for Central America, Costa Rica and Panama; Allan Mora Vargas, Vice Minister of Health; and Gerald Campos Valverde, Minister of Justice and Peace. Among the participants were officials from the Ministry of Health and the Costa Rican Agency for the Protection of Personal Data, the Data Protection Directorate of the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information of Panama and the General Directorate of Ethics and Government Integrity of the Dominican Republic, among others.   

This course has been organized in the framework of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance program, of which FIIAPP is the implementing agency in the data protection component.

About the EU-LAC Digital Alliance Program – Policy Dialogues on policies and regulations.

Concern about the handling of personal data has been a key demand expressed by the countries of the EU-LAC region in the high-level policy dialogues held in 2023 in El Salvador and in Cartagena de Indias in the framework of the EU-LAC Digital Alliance – Policy Dialogues program, of which FIIAPP is the implementing agency in its data protection component.

The EU-LAC high-level policy dialogue on digital policies and regulations aims to bring together LAC and EU policymakers to build consensus and partnerships on digital and regulatory issues, based on the needs of member countries.