Dear Andre,
Warm welcome to HIFA and I look forward to explore these vital issues with you and others. I just wanted to pick up on a couple of points in your message
1. "HIFA could then certify these sites. Thus health information becomes reliable!" HIFA doesn't have the remit or capacity to certify websites. This function was previously carried out by Health On The Net Foundation, using criteria based on editorial processes which I and many others found both feasible and effective. Unfortunately HoN Foundation closed down recently after many years' service, due to lack of funding. They are a stark example of the failure of the international community to finance important, low-budget initiatives that promote the availability of reliable healthcare information. (HIFA itself is critically underfunded and we welcome any suggestions from HIFA members: neil@hifa.org )
2. "convincing different audiences about the centrality that combating disinformation occupies in the current global scenario". I argue that the central challenge is not to combat misinformation, but to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information. Back in 2006 when HIFA was launched, global health leaders wrote in The Lancet: "The challenge is to ensure that everyone in the world can have access to clean, clear, knowledge — a basic human right, and a public health need as important as access to clean, clear, water, and much more easily achievable." This challenge continues to be ignored. We know that the global evidence ecosystem is dysfunctional, and yet there is no coherent strategy to address this. We recently published a report, HIFA Global Consultation. The consultation is based on the views of more than 2410 respondents in 136 countries, representing every aspect of the global evidence ecosystem, and urges WHO 'to explicitly champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and to convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy'. https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/articles/HIFA-WHO_report_final.pdf
Best wishes, Neil
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
