Dear Andre,
Thank you for your message [ https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/introduction-andre-neto-brazil-developi... ]
You wrote:
"In the article I attached in my first message we analyzed HON e Dyscern. In this text we state that: “None of these initiatives verifies the accuracy of the information”."
I am not familiar with Dyscern. But I am familiar with HON (Health on the Net Foundation) and am saddened that it closed recently due to lack of funding. As I previously said, the closure of HON is 'a stark example of the failure of the international community to finance important, low-budget initiatives that promote the availability of reliable healthcare information'.
HON was innovative because it recognised that it is impossible to verify the accuracy of every sentence, every paragraph on the internet. It took the logical, feasible approach instead to look at the editorial processes that underlie health websites. They had a checklist of criteria, corroborated by information professionals, to award (or decline) an HON certificate to organisations responsible for health websites. Users of health information were able to tell for the first time that sound editorial principles were being followed.
I look forward to hearing more about Dyscern.
Many thanks, 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
