Health Record Rights Index · country brief · this country's data as of October 1, 2026
Who holds the health record in Eritrea?
In 2026, Eritrea scores 22 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record. It is tied for 193rd of 198 countries and territories, and could rank anywhere from 176th to 197th allowing for scoring error, in the Poor band (0 to 24). Who holds the keys: the government. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026.
The government decides, with limited say for the person. No right is above the typical country. The closest is your say over research use (43 out of 100, against 46 for the typical country). The furthest behind is getting your full record (18 out of 100, against 40 to 45 for the typical country).
Eritrea has no data protection law and mostly paper records; doctors face prison for revealing secrets, but patients have no verified right to their records.
Published · updated · this country's data as of October 1, 2026 · research tool, not legal advice
overall score · Poor band, 0 to 24
22/100
rank among 198 countries and territories; likely 176th to 197th, allowing for scoring error
Low confidence. Thin evidence on 4 of the 8 rights: your copy, joined-up record, sale and ads and research. The evidence grade rates all our sources together; confidence looks at each right. Neither changes the score.
Questions people ask
Can I see my health record in Eritrea?
In 2026, getting your full record scores 18 out of 100 in Eritrea; the typical country scores 40 to 45. We found no legal right for a patient to see or copy their medical record: the 2015 Civil Code's medical contract chapter is silent on records, and any such rule in other health proclamations is not verified. There is no patient portal. Source: FAOLEX, May 15, 2015, and the other sources below.
Who controls health records in Eritrea?
In 2026, the government holds the keys to your health record in Eritrea. Control over who sees it scores 22 out of 100 in Eritrea; the typical country scores 30. The Civil Code lets a person refuse treatment and stop a professional revealing what they confided. Beyond that, no consent choices, opt-out or access log for health records were found, and data runs to a ministry system. Source: FAOLEX, May 15, 2015, and the other sources below.
How does Eritrea compare?
In 2026, Eritrea scores 22 out of 100, against 39 for the typical country. This brief compares it with Sudan (22 out of 100), Guinea-Bissau (21 out of 100) and Libya (23 out of 100). Source: the ranking of all 198 countries and territories.
Eight rights, compared with Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Libya and the typical country
Scores out of 100, by right
Getting your full record20%
18
22 · 20 · 20
Control over who sees it20%
22
22 · 20 · 22
Privacy and security15%
25
20 · 22 · 25
One record across your care15%
20
18 · 20 · 18
Protection from sale and ads10%
25
20 · 20 · 25
Doctors see it when treating you10%
15
15 · 15 · 17
Your say over research use5%
43
46 · 43 · 46
Rules for AI in your care5%
18
25 · 15 · 25
Black dot: Eritrea. Hollow dots: Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Libya (scores out of 100 on the right, same order). Gray line: the typical country of all 198. Overall: Eritrea 22 out of 100. Scores move in steps of about 5 points, so read a rank with its likely range.
What would Eritrea need to change to score higher?
Eritrea sits in Poor (0 to 24); Weak starts at 25. Its two weakest rights, compared with the typical country and weighted by how much each counts, are getting your full record (18 out of 100, against 40 to 45 for the typical country) and privacy and security (25 out of 100, against 45 for the typical country). Our scoring rules give more points for:
Getting your full record: A national portal that shows most people at least part of their record (a summary, prescriptions, lab results) puts this right at 60 to 75 out of 100. A near-full record that you can download, with a long history and used by most people, puts it at 76 to 90.
Privacy and security: A health data regulator that is independent and actually acts: it decides cases about health records, breaches must be reported, and fines are applied.
Which laws give health record rights in Eritrea?
Penal Code of the State of Eritrea (2015): Article 145: medical professionals revealing secrets face one to three years; computer misuse is an offence.
Civil Code of the State of Eritrea (2015): Right to refuse treatment, professional secrecy (Article 23), image rights, medical contract rules.
Constitution of Eritrea (ratified, not in force) (1997): Article 18 right to privacy; ratified in 1997 but never brought into effect.
Doctors, waits and private care context, not part of the score
Doctors per 10,000
0.9 2023
Nurses and midwives per 10,000
15.2 2023
Private insurance + out-of-pocket
unknown
Record reaches private care?
unknown
Real cases
We found no real cases published in the last two years.
Who to contact in Eritrea
Not legal advice. Laws, offices and websites can change, so check with the office itself before you rely on anything here.
For Eritrea, we list one official office to contact about your health record, as of :
See your record: ask the records office of your doctor, hospital or clinic
Health ministry:Ministry of Health (named on a United Nations page)
In 2026, Eritrea scored 22 out of 100 for how much say a person has over their own health record, tied for 193rd of 198 countries and territories (could be 176th to 197th), in the Poor band. Who holds the keys: the government. Source: Health Record Rights Index, SuperTruth, this country's data as of October 1, 2026, https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/eritrea/
The 14 sources for Eritrea
Each source appears once, under the first right it supports. Titles are shown as our research agents recorded them, usually in the page's own language; text in square brackets is our machine translation. Links were checked on the date shown.
Getting your full record (4 sources)
“Civil Code of the State of Eritrea 2015”
FAOLEX (law or regulation) · Title in English
Dated May 15, 2015 · Link checked October 2, 2026 (opened)
Used for: Getting your full record; Control over who sees it; Protection from sale and ads
SuperTruth Inc. · 24 S. 24th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA · +1 215 918 4140 · supertruth.ai Something wrong? Tell us · Questions or a briefing: supertruth.ai/on-the-record#contact · Full index: healthrecordrights.com
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (38 mostly high-income countries). DTI™: the Data Trust Index, which grades the evidence behind each score. SuperTruth makes it and publishes this index. Everything here comes from public information: laws, government and regulator pages, court decisions, published news, WHO, OECD and World Bank data. Full sources: https://healthrecordrights.com/brief/eritrea/#sources. SuperTruth built this index and sells health data verification products; no one paid to be included. Research tool, not legal advice. Our scores and our own words are CC BY 4.0; quoted law and source titles stay with their owners.
