Over the last few decades some developed countries have taken dedicated efforts to develop individual-level primary/ambulatory care longitudinal databases at national level. Recently the FDA has advocated for the use of such real world data (RWD) to support the regulatory decision making process in a more pragmatic way. These databases can play a crucial role in understanding the progression of diseases at population level, especially chronic diseases, by providing information on the effectiveness of various treatments, and the possible associations of such treatments and other public-health related interventions on the long-term outcomes. Such data also helps us to understand the reflection of primary care based disease management practices at the individual patient level.
There is an urgent need to consider the development of such databases in Australia to understand the population-level scenario in terms of disease progression, effectiveness of interventions including primary care management, the process for more effective individualisation of disease management, and the development of more informed approaches to the development of public health management policies. With examples from international achievements, this presentation will address the challenges and opportunities associated with the development of RWD in Australia, and the utilisation of such databases as a key part of the national research agenda.