Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 May 2022
186. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if consideration will be given to reinstate Sláintecare funding for the national diabetes registry project in order that its results will inform future projects relating to other chronic diseases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25029/22]
View answerThe development of a national diabetes registry remains a priority. The National Diabetes Registry Demonstrator Project, funded through Sláintecare, was paused as key HSE staff were redeployed onto urgent on-going COVID-19 work. Following substantial increases in investment in eHealth, the national diabetes registry is now being considered as part of a wider review of Ireland’s health information strategy, and will operate as a “virtual” registry.
Government approval was given in April to prepare the General Scheme of a Health Information Bill. It is envisaged that the Bill will include a provision to enable the operation of disease-specific “virtual” registries, including a virtual national diabetes registry, where information on disease diagnoses and treatment from healthcare providers is efficiently collated, combined and quality-checked from administrative records to create a database akin to an active registry for each disease. This will greatly improve the potential to monitor rare-disease prevalence in Ireland.
