Dear HIFA colleagues,
Over the coming days and weeks HIFA invites you to consider a range of questions around the theme of Universal access to reliable healthcare information.
This is the second phase of our global consultation in official relations with the World Health Organization.
The first phase was a public online survey, which attracted more than 2,400 responses with thanks to technical support from E4GDH, JBI, and Digital Medic, as well as inkind support from BMJ, Lancet, World Medical Association, and financial support from the Elsevier Foundation, National Institute for Health and Care Research, Oxford PharmaGenesis and others. We are now working with Digital Medic at Stanford University to analyse and interpret the results.
Meanwhile we move into the second phase of our consultation, where we shall interact dynamically around the issues and questions raised in the survey. If you missed the survey, this is your chance to contribute.
We start with the theme of "How important is access to reliable healthcare information?". Please send your thoughts and comments on any of the following statements:
1: Access to reliable healthcare information is (or should be) a human right
2: Improving the availability and use of reliable healthcare information would lead to substantial improvements in quality of care and health outcomes
3: Universal health coverage cannot be achieved without universal access to reliable healthcare information
4: More support is needed for health literacy (helping people find, understand and use healthcare information)
Please email your comments to the forum: hifa@hifaforums.org
Also, please forward this message to your contacts and invite them to join us: www.hifa.org/joinhifa The more voices we have, the greater will be our collective impact.
Our discussion will be summarised in HIFA's report to WHO to help inform and prioritise action in 2024.
Many thanks for your active participation.
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
