City to ink pact with MRXUH for data sharing on post COVID-19 for children

The city government of Cagayan de Oro will be collaborating with the Maria Reyna Xavier University Hospital-Department of Pediatrics (MRXUH Pediatrics) in sharing information/data in the conduct of a survey, research and study on post-COVID -19 conditions particularly children in the city.

This, after the 20th City Council during its regular session presided over by Vice Mayor Jocelyn B. Rodriguez enacted an ordinance authorizing City Mayor Rolando A. Uy to enter into and sign the data sharing agreement with the MRXUH for the purpose.

The Gavel learned that the MRXUH Department of Pediatrics expressed its intention to conduct a research regarding the clinical phenotypes and predictors of post COVID-19 conditions in children of the city.

In his letter to the City Council, Mayor Uy said the MRXUH Department of Pediatrics noticed that there is an urgent need to conduct a study on COVID-19 cases that affected the city’s children to avoid any future health risks.

To achieve this goal, Mayor Uy added that it must secure the necessary confidential information from the city government through the City Health Office (CHO). Realizing that there are reasonable grounds to justify the sharing of confidential information to the MRXUH, the city thru the CHO is committed to share the confidential information as long as it is in compliance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012.

Under the agreement, the city further commits to secure the appropriate consent of the minor’s parents or person having parental authority prior to relaying the confidential information to the MRXUH.

The MRXUH Department of Pediatrics will likewise secure the necessary consent from the data subjects prior to conducting the survey, study, research, interview and other processes. The ordinance was reviewed and endorsed by the committees on health, nutrition, and health insurance respectively chaired by Councilors Maria Lourdes S. Gaane and Ian Mark Q. Nacaya.