Dear HIFA colleagues,
I would like to invite comment and discussion on the preliminary survey results (slide 7): https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/publications_pdf/HIFA-survey-pr...
The numbers (4.78 etc) indicate the results of the Likert scale for each question (max 5 = "strongly agree")
Q4: Access to reliable healthcare information is (or should be) a human right 4.78
Q5: Improving the availability and use of reliable healthcare information would lead to substantial improvements in quality of care and health outcomes. 4.70
Q6: Universal health coverage cannot be achieved without universal access to reliable healthcare information 4.46
Q7: More support is needed for health literacy (helping people find, understand and use healthcare information) 4.74
Q9: There should be more support for initiatives that improve access to reliable healthcare information 4.67
Q10: There should be higher standards of practice and ethics among information providers 4.53
Q11: There should be more support for research on the availability and use of reliable healthcare information 4.49
Q12: More should be done to ensure that health workers have access to reliable healthcare information 4.68
Q13: More should be done to protect people from misinformation 4.66
Q14: Governments should recognisetheir obligation to improve the availability and use of reliable healthcare information 4.62
Q15: Governments should provide more support for WHO to 'extend to all peoples the benefits of medical, psychological and related knowledge' as described in the WHO Constitution (1948) 4.28
COMMENTS (NPW):
Q4-7 indicate the level of importance that people place on the availability and use of reliable healthcare information. The vast majority answered "Strongly agree" to every statement. These results underline the imperative for much stronger advocacy for universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA cannot do this alone. We need WHO to champion this issue and we are ready to support.
Q9-15 indicate people's level of support for the seven recommendations of the World Medical Association statement. These recommendations were originally developed by the British Medical Assocation and HIFA and agreed unanimously by WMA in 2019, representing 10 million doctors worldwide. Again, the results of Q9-15 show a resounding level of support for all seven recommendations.
We are continuing to analyse the results in detail, including qualitative analysis, with help from Digital Medic at Stanford University and E4GDH at IFLA. The report will be submitted to WHO in January 2024. We are also looking to submit an academic version of the findings at a later date.
PLEASE CAN YOU HELP HIFA WITH A DONATION?
All of this work is run on a very small budget and depends on donations from HIFA members. We are grateful to Vikram Patel, Geoff Royston and Chris Zielinski for their recent donations, and we invite other HIFA members to show your support likewise. For more information please visit our fundraising platform here: https://hifa.online-donation.co.uk/general/~my-donation
Thank you.
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org
