Access to Information for Health Professionals in Developing Countries:

A global review of progress, lessons learned, and ways forward

'Providing access to reliable health information for health workers in developing countries is potentially the single most cost-effective and achievable strategy for sustainable improvement in health care.'  British Medical Journal 1997; 314: 90

INASP-Health is facilitating a Global Review during 2004-5 to examine what has been achieved in health information, what works and what doesn't.

WHY? 

Despite many successful initiatives during the past 10 years, most healthcare providers in developing countries continue to lack access to the information they need to deliver safe, effective healthcare with available resources.

Access to health information is increasingly recognized as a prerequisite for the Millennium Development Goals. The issue has never been so high on the political agenda. The recent draft 'World Report on Knowledge for Better Health' (WHO) argues that 'access to relevant, reliable and up-to-date health and health research information [in] the developing world must be improved and must take into account the needs of diverse groups of constituencies and stakeholders'.

WHO IS INVOLVED? 

Participating organisations include the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA), BIREME (Latin American and Caribbean Centre on Health Sciences Information), BMJ, The Cochrane Collaboration, Forum for African Medical Editors, Global Forum for Health Research, Interactive Health Network, International e-Health Association, The Lancet, Medical Library Association, Society for the Internet in Medicine, South Asian Public Health Forum, Wellcome Trust, World Health Organization, and the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. Each participating organization will take responsibility for a specific component of the review, according to their professional expertise.

We shall be consulting with all those involved in the use, creation and exchange of information for health professionals in developing countries. We shall engage ideas and perspectives from healthcare providers, researchers, journal publishers, indexers, systematic reviewers, producers of health learning and reference materials, librarians, technologists, development workers, evaluators, funding agencies and others...

Funding is being sought to cover the costs of coordination and developing-country participation.

HOW WILL IT WORK? 

The review will start with a launch meeting at the British Medical Association on 12th July 2004, and the publication of a discussion paper in The Lancet. It will continue as a common theme through a series of existing international and country-level meetings already scheduled for 2004-5, each organized by one or more of the participating organizations. The meetings will cover the full range of professional and geographical perspectives.

Dialogue at face-to-face meetings will be complemented by a series of moderated discussions on HIF-net at WHO, the vibrant email forum with more than 1400 people worldwide committed to improve access to health information, with over half from developing countries.

The Review will build on what is already known. It will draw from pre-existing material on the subject (formal and informal, including previous dialogue on HIF-net at WHO), and new findings from parallel health information research projects.

LINKING TO ACTION 

We expect to see a real increase in financial commitment to health information activities worldwide over the coming months. If we are right, this Global Review will serve partly as a mechanism for those in positions of influence to 'take into account the needs of diverse groups of constituencies and stakeholders'. If we are wrong, the Review will have an important role as a platform for collective advocacy.

HOW TO CONTRIBUTE 

• Come to the Launch Meeting. This is being held at the British Medical Association, London, with support from the BMJ and Exchange. This is a special meeting of the Health Information Forum and, as usual, is open to all with an interest. We regret that travel expenses are not available. To reserve your place, email: health@inasp.info
  
• Take part in one or more of the participating conferences.
  
• HIF-net at WHO. Keep informed and join in the discussions on the email forum HIF-net at WHO. Forward this message to your colleagues and invite them to join, by sending their name, organization and brief description of professional interests to health@inasp.info
  
• INASP Newsletter. The November 2004 issue of the INASP Newsletter will be devoted to the Global Review. As part of the Global Review, we invite you to submit a contribution to the Newsletter. We are looking for short articles (less than 700 words) that illustrate your experience, lessons learned, ideas and suggested ways forward to improve access to health information in developing countries. We are especially keen to receive contributions from Africa, Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, Latin America and Caribbean, and the Western Pacific region.

Budget

Most of the components are already in place with their own funding. Modest additional funding is required for:

• Coordination

• Support for developing country events

• Sponsorship for attendance by developing-country speakers

• Editing, translation, synthesis

• Reporting and dissemination.

For further information, see:

Brochure, including list of participating conferences (pdf 256kb)

Can we achieve 'Health Information for All?': Programme for Launch Meeting,
12 July 2004, BMA, London

or contact Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Senior Programme Manager, INASP-Health:
health@inasp.info