16Disclosure of information

16 Disclosure of information

16 Disclosure of information

(1) The object of this clause is to prescribe circumstances in which the disclosure of information obtained in connection with the administration or execution of the Act (or any other Act conferring or imposing responsibilities or functions on the Minister, the Ministry of Health, the Health Secretary, the Corporation or the Foundation) does not constitute an offence under the Act.

(2) For the purposes of section 22(e) of the Act, the prescribed circumstances are—

(a) in the case of information that is epidemiological data that does not identify any individual to whom the information relates—

(i) the disclosure is approved in writing by the Health Secretary or by the Chief Health Officer of the Ministry of Health, and

(ii) the disclosure is made in accordance with the approval, or

(b) in the case of any other information—

(i) the disclosure is approved in writing by the Health Secretary, and

(ii) the disclosure is made in accordance with the approval.

(3) The Health Secretary must not approve under this clause the disclosure of information that may identify an individual to whom the information relates unless—

(a) the Health Secretary is satisfied that the individual consents to the disclosure of the information, or

(b) the Health Secretary is satisfied that the disclosure of the information is urgently required in the interests of public health, or

(c) the information is required for the purposes of medical research and the Health Secretary is satisfied that the research is being conducted in accordance with any guidelines of the National Health and Medical Research Council relating to—

(i) the protection of individual privacy, and

(ii) the circumstances in which the consent of the individual the subject of research need not be obtained, and

(iii) any other matters the Health Secretary considers relevant, or

(d) the disclosure is made to the Centre for Health Record Linkage (CHeReL), or any other similar organisation approved by the Health Secretary, for the purposes of obtaining a unique identifier to be used for—