Two weeks ago we announced a new category for HIFA: HIFA Partners.
A 'HIFA Partner' refers to any organisation that provides practical support for HIFA's work in 2025. Support may be financial or technical/in-kind; it may be an unrestricted donation or allocated to specific HIFA activities.
HIFA recognises all Partners prominently on the HIFA website, social media, publications and presentations, including their logos on the HIFA homepage.
To date we recognise 21 organisations that are providing practical support for HIFA in 2025. You can see them on our home page (www.hifa.org) and on HIFA news:
https://www.hifa.org/news/hifa-partner-initiative-hifa-recognises-21-org...
Two of these organisations are recognised as Partners because they sponsor a HIFA Project, namely NextGenU.org and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
NextGenU.org is sponsoring our series of thematic discussions on substance use disorders and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health is supporting our two Research-based Projects: mHealth-Innovate (informal use of mobile phones by health workers) and Support-Systems (How can decision-making processes for health systems strengthening and universal health coverage be made more inclusive, responsive and accountable?). All of these Projects are well under way and all are proving very successful, as shown by the following testimonials:
1. Mental health: meeting information needs for substance use disorders (NextGenU.org)
“NextGenU.org is honored to collaborate with HIFA to advance global health. Our Addiction Training for Health Professionals Program provides health professionals with free, high-quality education on addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery worldwide. Working with the HIFA team has significantly enhanced our ability to achieve these goals. Through HIFA's unique approach, we can better address misconceptions, reduce stigma, and improve access to reliable healthcare information for substance use disorders. HIFA's ability to convene diverse stakeholders fosters invaluable discussions and innovations, ultimately enhancing the well-being of individuals worldwide. We proudly support HIFA’s efforts and look forward to continued collaboration.” Miriam Chickering, CEO, February 2025
2. Informal use of mobile phones by health workers (mHEALTH-INNOVATE/Norwegian Institute of Public Health/Research Council of Norway)
“HIFA has been a vital part of the mHealth-Innovate research project as it has given us a unique opportunity to discuss topics with healthcare workers, managers and policy makers from across the world. This has been a great supplement to our more formal research processes as these are often slow, shaped by the researcher and limited to specific settings. The HIFA network, on the other hand, is an open space where people from all levels of the system can discuss topics on their own terms. HIFA has helped us put our questions on the agenda and the HIFA discussions have been a key part of making sure that our research is relevant for people on the ground. This is not the first time we have collaborated with HIFA and hopefully not the last!” Claire Glenton, Principal Investigator, February 2025
3. How can decision-making processes for health systems strengthening and universal health coverage be made more inclusive, responsive and accountable? (SUPPORT-SYSTEMS/Norwegian Institute of Public Health/Research Council of Norway)
“Involving key users of knowledge in research projects is crucial for ensuring the research is responsive to their needs and has a meaningful impact. However, accessing different groups of users is often challenging. HIFA has been a dynamic platform for building relationships with individuals from diverse professional backgrounds and roles within health systems worldwide, enabling the collection of insights that would have otherwise been difficult to obtain. The HIFA discussion forum has been especially valuable, enabling the research project to explore concepts and assumptions, and to understand how the research questions resonate with on-the-ground realities through the insights of individuals with relevant experiences. I highly recommend partnering with HIFA for research collaborations and will definitely do so again for future research proposals.” Unni Gopinathan, Principal Investigator, February 2025
We invite other organisations to let us know: What is your priority global health issue in 2025? Have you considered leveraging HIFA to help you achieve your objectives? We look forward to your proposal for a new HIFA Project.
Find out more about HIFA Projects here: www.hifa.org/projects
On behalf of the HIFA Partnerships and Projects Working Group: https://www.hifa.org/projects/partnerships-and-projects
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