Dear HIFA colleagues,
I have belatedly learned that IFLA - the International Federation of Library Associations - has approved a policy statement calling for universal access to healthcare information!
HIFA was invited in October 2023 to provide comments on an earlier draft. We proposed to base the statement around the shared goal of "Universal Access to Reliable Healthcare Information" and we are delighted to see this has been adopted. (We also noted that we are on unsteady ground if we assert a right to healthcare information, as previously discussed on HIFA, although such access is recognised as a determinant of the right to health.)
Since 2017, HIFA's strategy has included to promote the vision of universal access to reliable healthcare information among *all* global stakeholder groups in the global evidence ecosystem. In 2019, further to advocacy from HIFA, the world's doctors became the first global stakeholder group to champion universal access, with the World Medical Association Policy Statement on Healthcare Information For All, representing 10 million medical doctors worldwide.
Until 2024, the word's doctors were the only global stakeholder group to formally commit to universal access. It is now a wonderful moment to learn that a second stakeholder group - the world's library and information professionals - have done the same.
HIFA' longterm aim is to secure commitment from all six stakeholder groups in the global evidence ecosystem, and thereby promote multisectoral collaboration, political and financial support.
But HIFA can't do this alone. We need another organisation with greater capacity and convening power. Since 2022, HIFA has been working in official relations with WHO (through Global Healthcare Information Network). Our latest survey report calls on WHO to explcitly commit to universal access. As and when it does so, this will be a game changer. Imagine a world where WHO explicitly champions universal access, with HIFA (and our 400 supporting organisations) providing support.
IFLA Announcement below. Read online: https://www.ifla.org/news/health-information-is-a-right-new-ifla-statement/
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21 April 2024
Libraries of different types, through providing inclusive access to information can make a major contribution to making the right to health a reality. Governments, in turn, can and should help realise this potential through law, regulation and funding, as a new statement from IFLA underlines.
The COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on the importance of healthcare information. From that used by individuals in deciding how to act, to that applied by professionals in caring for patients, and that helping governments to take key policy decisions, the need for effective access and use was clear.
Where there was information, people, professionals and those in power could take better decisions. Where there wasn’t, there were higher risks, missed opportunities, and unnecessary tragedies. Crucially, this access to health information is not equitable, both between individuals and between countries.
IFLA’s new Statement on Universal Access to Healthcare Information as a Human Right [*see note below] calls for a stronger recognition of the need to address this situation as a rights issue. This is based on provisions that already exist in international human rights law.
The statement stresses that delivering on this right requires a combination of investment in creation of information, work to make it accessible for all, supportive laws and regulations, and close engagement with society.
Libraries play a key role in this, as pre-existing and recognised centres in their communities, with a strong understanding of their needs and how best to deliver access to information to them. Nonetheless, their role in providing health information is not always recognised.
The statement therefore calls on libraries to work – in their advocacy and practice – to ensure that everyone has access to health information. To allow them to do this, it stresses that governments should clearly recognise the right to health information and pass supportive laws. It also calls for work to support the development of an offer of healthcare information, supporting libraries and other institutions as dissemination and application, and to promote partnerships.
The statement was prepared by IFLA’s Special Interest Group on Evidence for Global and Disaster Health, working with the Health and Bioscience Libraries Section, and approved by the IFLA Governing Board on 17 April 2024.
We encourage library associations, libraries and the library and information workforce – in particular in heath libraries – to draw on this statement in engaging with health ministries and agencies, representatives of the World Health Organization in your countries, and other stakeholders.
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*Note from HIFA moderator (NPW): The link to the actual Statement is not working this morning. I shall post it as soon as it is available.
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
