DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) has committed to fostering stronger health data governance to advance digital transformation and innovations in the health sector in the East African region, the regional bloc said Monday.

The statement, issued by the EAC headquarters in Tanzania's northern city of Arusha, said that the commitment was made at the end of a two-day consultative forum on health data governance held in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.

The forum, which brought together the EAC secretariat, the East African Legislative Assembly, and the Pan-African Health Informatics Association, aimed to highlight the importance of developing the EAC regional health data governance, the statement said.

Eric Nzeyimana, the EAC principal health officer, said that the process of developing the framework for health data governance is already underway. He added that the EAC health data governance framework is expected to be approved during the 24th EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Health, scheduled to be held in early 2024.

The EAC member states consist of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.