Dear HIFA colleagues, Thank you for all your contributions so far. This is already becoming a very interesting discussion.
Today I asked ChatGPT: Do you have any examples where open access to research led to a direct improvement in patient care?
It responded with five examples (four of which were not relevant to the question):
1. Open Access and the COVID-19 Pandemic (this example referred to open sharing of data rather than open-access publishing)
2. The Human Genome Project (again, open data)
3. Stroke Treatment Guidelines (this is an example of open access to guidelines, not open access to research)
4. Open Access and Tropical Disease Research (this example referered to 'open-access journals like PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases... where clinicians in endemic regions can use this research to update treatment guidelines...'
5. Open Data in Cancer Genomics (another open data project.
The only example that ChatGPT offered that is relevant to us is #4. However, ChatGPT has perhaps a distorted view of how treatment guidelines are updated and adapted for national use. In my understanding, it is more usual (and more reliable) for a treatment guideline to be informed by WHO international recommendations and guidelines, adapted for national use on the basis of local research and knowledge. A clinician would not normally update a treatment guideline on the basis of an open-access research paper, although there is perhaps some truth in suggesting that open access to the scientific literature can facilitate the collective process. (Notwithstanding, Hinari allows most guideline developers in LMICs to access subscription content free or at low cost.)
For example, here is a description of how the guideline development process works for malaria. https://www.who.int/teams/global-malaria-programme/guideline-development...
I would like to present a challenge for all of us. Can you identify a practical example where open access to research led to a direct improvement in patient care? Perhaps from your own experience? Or from a google search?
I'm sure there must be examples. But I suspect they are rarer than we may think.
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