The HIFA Vision, Mission, Strategy

HIFA Vision: Universal access to reliable healthcare information: a world where every person and every health worker has access to the reliable healthcare information they need to protect their own health and the health of others, and is protected from misinformation.

HIFA Mission: To strengthen the global evidence ecosystem (below) and thereby accelerate progress towards the HIFA vision.

HIFA Strategy: HIFA's remit is to address three intrinsic weaknesses in the global evidence ecosystem: communication, understanding, and advocacy [1]. HIFA's 20,000 members represent every aspect of the global evidence ecosystem, with a shared commitment on: 

  • how to better understand and address the information needs of end-users
  • how to improve the availability and use of reliable healthcare information 
  • how to protect people from misinformation
  • how to promote political and financial commitment for universal access.

HIFA members interact 24/7 on five global online forums in four languages (English, French, Portuguese and Spanish). They represent thousands of health and development organisations in 180 countries worldwide, of which more than 400 officially endorse the HIFA vision.

HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based non-profit in official relations with the World Health Organization since 2022.

Read the HIFA Strategy 2022-2024 

[1] Godlee F, Pakenham-Walsh N, Ncayiyana D, Cohen B, Packer A. Can we achieve health information for all by 2015? The Lancet 2004;364(9430):295-300

 

 

 

 

 

‘The development of reliable, relevant, usable information can be represented as a system that requires cooperation among a wide range of professionals including health-care providers, policy makers, researchers, publishers, information professionals, indexers, and systematic reviewers. The system is not working because it is poorly understood, unmanaged, and under-resourced.’  The Lancet 2004

The Global Evidence Ecosystem

Adapted from Godlee F, Pakenham-Walsh N, Ncayiyana D, Cohen B, Packer A.  Can we achieve health information for all by 2015? The Lancet 2004;364(9430):295-300