ABSTRACT
Since the emergence of COVID-19, data has been critical to understanding, responding to and reducing the incidence of the virus across the world. The need for quick access to data has meant that ‘open science’, which requires the rapid sharing of results of clinical trials, observational studies, operational research, routine surveillance, and information on the virus and its genetic sequences, has not only become the norm during this pandemic, but expected. Rapid data sharing was credited with the swift development of vaccines and diagnostics, but also raised concerns about privacy and discrimination. The inequitable access to new diagnostics, therapies and vaccines developed from this data sharing, brought about a reluctance from some to share data. In May 2021, the World Health Organisation Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, called for a global pandemic treaty that would require the global sharing of data during an emergency. However, if open science is to frame the model of data sharing in this proposed pandemic treaty, pertinent issues must be first considered.
