High level working group on statistical confidentiality Proposal for granting access to European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) Unit F5 ‘Health and food safety statistics’ 23 October 2009 High level working group on statistical confidentiality

Structure of the presentation European Health Interview Survey Importance to access to microdata Rules to anonymise EHIS data sets Consultation among Member States Conclusion 23 October 2009

European Health Interview Survey – EHIS (1) Aim: measure health status, life style (health determinants) and health care services use of the EU residents Topics answer to : Policy driven needs (fulfil indicator sets requested by the Commission (e.g. ECHI, OMC)) Scientific purposes (research on specific population …) General health pattern no detailed health aspects Take on board comparability and harmonisation issues Common EN questionnaire of about 130 questions  Final version agreed with MS (2006 WG on PH Statistics) Translation protocol, conceptual cards and guidelines for implementation, methodological guidelines 23 October 2009

European Health Interview Survey – EHIS (2) Implementation phases 1st wave: 2007-2009 (17 MS+CH+TR), gentlemen’s agreement 2nd wave by 2013-2014 , under the new Regulation on Community statistics for health & health and safety at work Regular five year collection thereafter; same year in all MS Financial support for the 1st implementation Translation in national languages Fieldwork: interviewer training, IT development Target population: 15+, household/individual survey Composition of the questionnaire 23 October 2009

European Health Interview Survey – EHIS (3) Main subjects Health determinants Height and weight Present and former smoking Consumption of alcohol Physical activity Use of illicit drugs Health care Hospitalisation Consultation with doctors/dentists Use of medicines Preventive actions Long-term care Health status MEHM Morbidity (list of conditions) Limitation in daily activities Background variables Age Gender Educational level Marital status Activity level Occupation Income 23 October 2009

Importance to access to microdata Community Statistical Programme 2008-2012 (TITLE XIII - PUBLIC HEALTH): Further develop the health information system through actions on "health knowledge and information“ Specific studies: elderly, tobacco consumers Assessment of EU/national plans Launch of new prevention plans  Importance to offer access to EHIS microdata sets 23 October 2009

Rules to anonymise EHIS data sets Design anonymisation rules Avoid to identify statistical units indirectly Common set of rules to anonymise data (aggregation, delete cells…) Proposed process: 1st draft of rules from previous social surveys (EU-SILC, LFS) and national experiences Availability: Winter 2009 But health = sensitive topic Need additional rules or more targeted reflections ? Who: group of experts 23 October 2009

Consultation among the MS (1) Presentation of the procedure to be followed Include the EHIS in the list of data sets mentioned in the Regulation 831/2002 Design anonymisation rules “should the EHIS be explicitly included in the Regulation (EC) 831/2002” Principle agreement of the WG (November 2008) BE,FR,MT,NO : explicit yes PL,PT,FI : subject to the anonymised rules designed 23 October 2009

Consultation among the MS (2) Presentation during the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality meeting (December 2008) Issues raised: Flexibility of the survey  most of the questionnaire stable for wave II onwards (legal framework) Sensitivity of the data related to health  Taken on board during the anonymisation process Differences in the situation in the MS as far as the implementation of the survey is concerned 23 October 2009

In conclusion Importance to access microdata sets for scientific purposes Principle agreement of MS during our WG meeting Design of the rules to anonymise data sets Ask for the principle agreement of the HLWGSC to include the EHIS (and not a particular wave) in the list of surveys covered by article 6 of regulation 831/2002 23 October 2009