Expansion of data-driven research in the 21st century has posed challenges in the
evolution of the international agreed framework of research ethics. The World Medical
Association (WMA)'s Declaration of Helsinki (DoH) has provided ethical principles
for medical research involving humans since 1964, with the last update in 2013. To
complement the DoH, WMA issued the Declaration of Taipei (DoT) in 2016 to provide
additional principles for health databases and biobanks. However, the ethical principles
for secondary use of data or material obtained in research remain unclear. With such
a perspective, the Working Group on Ethics (WGE) of the International Federation of
Associations of Pharmaceutical Physicians and Pharmaceutical Medicine (IFAPP) suggests
a closer scientific linkage in the DoH to the (Declaration of Taipei) DoT focusing
specifically on areas that will facilitate data-driven research, and to further strengthen
the protection of research participants.
