Rwanda Ministry of Health Request for Access to Health Data
Name of individual
requesting data access:
Date of request:
Email:
Telephone:
Institutional affiliation:
Request for access to data
from which systems
□ Rwanda HMIS
□ Rwanda Data
warehouse
□ TracNet
□ Resource Tracking
□ DHSST
□ CBHI indicator DB
□ SISCom
□ PBF
□ Other system, specify
below:
Purpose of request
Intended use of data
Data required: refer to
specific reporting formats
and data elements
Geographic coverage:
□ National
□ Selected districts
□ Selected health facilities
Format of data requested:
Type of request:
□ One time
□ Recurrent access
Signature of requestor:
From:
To:
Date:
By signing this request, I acknowledge that I have read and accept the responsibilities of data users on page
2 of this document.
For Ministry of Health Use Only:
Reviewed by:
Decision
Signature
Department/Unit
□ Approved
□ More details required
□ Refused, specify reason:
Date
Requests for data:
Aside from data that are classified as public, requests for data from non-Government of Rwanda staff or
departments must be addressed to the HMIS department who will process the request with the relevant Ministry
departments as identified in the table above. The request must identify the specific purpose for which it will be
used, who will use the data and describe the data sets required. These requests should be made using the
attached word template by email at least 48 hours before the data are required to allow time for review and
preparation of the data set. Individual requests will be logged by the HMIS department.
Requests can be for one-time access or for a recurrent request (i.e. monthly or quarterly updates of the same data
or application). Requests for data from multiple data sources are to be coordinated by the HMIS department.
Requests are for the specific purpose and individuals or departments that requested the data. Non-public data
may not be passed on to third parties without prior approval. Such requests for data do not replace the
requirement of seeking ethics committee approval for human subject research (policy and procedures covered in
the Health Sector Research Policy).
Responsibilities of data users:
Access to classified health information comes with certain responsibilities and obligations for end users. In
particular these are to avoid misuse of data and the publication of biased or misleading analyses. More details
are available in the Ministry of Health’s Health Sector Data Sharing and Confidentiality Policy, available on the
MOH web site (moh.gov.rw)
Identifying and reporting data quality issues: While all ministry departments seek to ensure the high quality
of routinely collected health data, in the course of detailed secondary analysis it is likely that users will note
anomalies due to missing data or errors of data transcription and data entry. Data users are required to report
such issues to the department responsible for the specific data source so that appropriate action can be taken to
correct errors before publishing analyses that might be influenced by these issues.
Ensuring data security and integrity: Authorized users become the custodians of the data that they are given
to use, they must ensure that the data are not shared with others who are not included in the data access
agreement. They must also ensure that the integrity of the data is maintained while it is in their possession.
Database access credentials of authorized users should never be shared
Publication: copies of publications based primarily on analysis of specific health data sets must be shared with
the responsible departments to form part of the knowledge base. They should be emailed to the HMIS
department and uploaded to the MOH web site. In exceptional cases, the Ministry of Health reserves the right to
require prior review of documents prior to publication. The major concern with the publication of data is the
ability to ensure the quality and accuracy of the data to be used. Bad data can lead to bad decisions, or can
unduly harm the reputation of an organization, district or even a country.
Sanctions:
Failure to comply with the Health Sector Information policies may result in sanctions relating to the individual
or organization’s use of health sector information (such as suspension or termination of access, or refusal of
research collaboration or publication, or removal of online material); to the individual's employment (up to and
including immediate termination of employment); civil or criminal liability as defined in Rwanda’s law on
access to information; or any combination of these.