A Public Health Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr. Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, says no entity involved in Ghana’s health data management chain can claim immunity from state investigations or audits.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News on Monday, November 3, Dr. Asiedu underscored that health data constitutes national security information and is, therefore, owned by the state, not by private contractors or service providers.
“Nobody should delude themselves that the state doesn’t have a right to investigate from the data controller, or even from the data subject, which is the patient, right through the data processor, which is Lightwave, to the data owner, which is the state,” he said.
His remarks follow complaints by Lightwave E-Healthcare Solutions Limited, which accused the Ministry of Health of conducting audits of its operations at public hospitals without prior notice.
Dr. Asiedu maintained that such audits are both legally permitted and globally practiced, adding that the state has a duty to ensure data integrity and security, particularly when public health information is at stake.
“Health data is national security data because it contains entire healthcare records, prevalence rates, medicines, and medical regulatory information. The state has every right to audit from the hospitals to the data processors and that is allowed by law,” he emphasised.
He, however, acknowledged that if there was any impersonation during the audit, that would be wrong and must be investigated. But he cautioned against framing the government’s audit as overreach.
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