Chinese researchers to gain access to half a million UK GP records
15/04/2025 | The Guardian
Over the last 12 months, health officials have been considering whether additional safeguards are required when patient health records are added to the tissue samples and questionnaire responses held by UK Biobank. Now it seems that despite warnings from intelligence agencies about the risks of an authoritarian regime amassing health data, researchers from China are set to gain access to 500,000 GP records after the NHS unit responsible for health data cleared it to grant Chinese researchers access to GP records once the records are transferred to UK Biobank.
The decision comes at a time when the UK government is seeking economic growth through engagement with China.
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