In light of a protest by cancer patients' associations, the Ministry of Health has announced that it is terminating its exclusive cooperation in sharing cancer data with the Association for the War on Cancer.
The collaboration between the bodies has existed for years, but from now on, new information and data on the number of patients with different types of cancer will be shared equally with all the associations that represent cancer patients.
Last week we published that associations representing tens of thousands of cancer patients claim that the Ministry of Health prevents them from receiving new data on cancer patients, in a way that harms their activities, while the Cancer Society receives the information in advance and publishes it in collaboration with the ministry.
Among the associations that complained were "one in nine" for breast cancer patients, the "Prevention Order" association for colorectal cancer patients, the National Association for Multiple Myeloma Patients and more, who approached Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and asked him to ensure that the information was distributed equally.
Ministry of Health // Photo: Oren Ben Hakon,
The Ministry of Health has received complaints on the subject not only from the associations themselves, but also from the Freedom of Information Movement.
"Information regarding public health is in the public domain. It is appropriate for the Ministry of Health to publish the information publicly and proactively on its website, so that it is available to anyone who requests it at the same time, and to all associations involved in the field. It is legal or essential for this, "writes Adv. Or Sadan, from the Freedom of Information Movement, to the director general of the Ministry of Health, Prof. Nachman Ash.
This week, she responded to the claims of the senior Minister of Health, Prof. Little Keinan Boker, director of the Center for Disease Control, and noted that from now on the data will be distributed equally.
"We will no longer share information with any association before the data is officially published on the ministry's website."
Shira Segal Kuperman, co-founder and CEO of Tal Halasartan, welcomed the decision to share information with all associations equally:
"The Halasartan community is the largest community of young patients and recoverers in Israel, which works, in the spirit of the time, for equality and the promotion of cooperation. The Ministry of Health's vision faithfully reflects its current decision in publishing the information."
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