Dear Jackeline,
Thank you for your comments on the 1-hour livestream session of the launch today.
"I did not hear, up to where I was connected, how this important initiative is going to be carried out. Hopefully it will take all the learning lessons and experience from this very issue that HIFA has discussed and taken to the global attention now for many years also working very closely to WHO."
Yes, for me there are lots of questions and I look forward to explore these.
1. How did the concept for the initiative develop? Who was involved in its development?
2. What is the activity plan for the new initiative? What will it do in the first year?
3. What are the specific objectives for each of the three 'areas of collaboration'?
4. How will the initiative engage, collaborate and build on existing efforts (such as HIFA)? Will there be an opportunity for partners to shape the initiative?
5. Who is the lead person at WHO for the initiative? How many WHO staff are allocated and will they be working full time on this?
6. Is the initiative receiving a budgetary allocation from WHO? Is it receiving external funding? What is the projected annual budget?
7. HIFA has an agreed collaboration plan with WHO that addresses many of the issues that the new initiative is proposing. The plan is currently not being implemented due to lack of funding. Can we collectively review the plan and prioritise activities that would achieve common goals? Is there potential for WHO and HIFA to develop joint funding proposals?
8. There is general agreement that universal access to reliable, relevant and trusted healthcare information is essential for universal health coverage. Will WHO now champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information: a world where every person has access to relevant, trustworthy, reliable information to protect their own health and the health of others?
9. There is increasing consensus that universal access to reliable, relevant and trusted healthcare information can only be achieved by strengthening the global evidence ecosystem. This is the approach taken by HIFA, which seeks to strengthen the ecosystem by promoting communication, understanding and advocacy across all sectors of the ecosystem. How will the new initiative strengthen the global evidence ecosystem? How will it work with the existing WHO Global Coalition for Evidence?
Jackeline, you noted: "Does anybody have more information? I would be interested to learn how HIFA is going to be part of this important initiative."
Yes indeed, as I said in my previous message:
"We anticipate this initiative will be an important opportunity for HIFA to strengthen our collaboration with WHO... We hope also that WHO will, with this initiative, continue to move closer to explicitly championing universal access to reliable healthcare information: a world where every person will have access to the information they need to protect their own health and the health of others. As HIFA found in our global consultation, this would bring the political and financial commitment that is needed now more than ever to strengthen the global evidence ecosystem and achieve our common goal. I look forward to further discussion..."
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