MEDBOX- The Aid Library Annual Report 2021

23 February, 2022

MEDBOX- The Aid Library Annual Report 2021

[ https://medbox.org/document/medbox-annual-report-2021#GO ]

As in the year 2020, the year 2021 was further marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the rapid development of vaccines, people around the world who have limited access to vaccination and health care continue to suffer the health and social consequences of the pandemic.

Therefore, one of the most important goals for the MEDBOX team in 2021 was to constantly keep the COVID-19 toolbox up to date. The MEDBOX tried to keep track of the enormous flood of information, the WHO has defined the term “Infodemic”, and to filter out trustworthy documents, such as treatment guidelines, studies, analyses, prevention strategies, educational materials, review them and upload them to the MEDBOX. Materials to argue against misinformation and myths with scientific arguments have been bundled and made available for download in the category "Vaccine hesitancy & Myths". Several issue briefs have been produced on this topic in different languages so that they can be made available to health workers and community health workers.

In addition to the ongoing update of existing literature, we were able to launch a new toolbox: the CAREGIVER TOOLBOX. Especially in low- and middle-income countries, community health workers and nurses at the primary level are often the first point of access to the health system. In order to provide patients with optimal care and the latest standards, quick and easy access to the right and latest information is essential. The CAREGIVER TOOLBOX www.caregiverbox.org thus offers healthcare workers the opportunity to educate themselves to improve patient and psychosocial care by providing an overview of important topics related to nursing, i.e. wound care, resuscitation, intensive care, cancer, patient navigation, standard operating procedures, and, hygiene.

Priorities in 2021 at a glance:

- Development and launch of the CAREGIVER TOOLBOX

- Continuous updating of the COVID-19 TOOLBOX

- Extension of the COVID-19 Toolbox with materials in Spanish and Portuguese for the Latin American context

- Expansion of the COVID-19 Toolbox with materialss in Arabic

- Availability of the MEDBOX platform in Arabic

- Publishing several topic-specific Issue Briefs around COVID-19

Since its launch in October 2013, MEDBOX has gained a remarkable reputation. The growing number of views, downloads, and increasing user numbers are an excellent testament to our work in terms of quality and value. In total, MEDBOX has made available more than 24,500 documents in different languages in more than 1,000 categories and subcategories.

We hope that you, your colleagues, and your local partners were able to use our innovative MEDBOX and form your own opinion about its importance. Without the support of our partners, this success would not have been possible. We hope you enjoy reading the MEDBOX Annual Report 2021, click here to read online or to download https://medbox.org/document/medbox-annual-report-2021#GO

Best regards,

Sieglinde Mauder

Project Lead MEDBOX-The Aid Library

www.medbox.org

HIFA profile: Sieglinde Mauder is Librarian at the Medical Mission Institute, Würzburg, Germany. She collects and distributes resources on HIV/AIDS, tropical diseases, humanitarian aid, health service management, e-learning for partners in developing countries. sieglinde.mauder AT medmissio.de