The creation of a European Health Data Space (EHDS), empowering citizens to control their personal healthcare data and facilitate secure sharing for research and altruistic (i.e. not-for-profit) purposes, took a step forward with the adoption of a draft Parliament position by the committees on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, and on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. MEPs adopted the report on Tuesday with 95 votes in favour, 18 against, and 10 abstentions.

Better healthcare with portability rights

The law would give patients the right to access their personal health data across the EU’s different healthcare systems (so-called primary use), and allow health professionals to access data on their patients. Access would include patient summaries, electronic prescriptions, medical imagery and laboratory results.

Each country would establish national health data access services based on the MyHealth@EU platform. The law would also set out rules on the quality and…