News

	Jackeline Alger, Honduras: HIFA Country Representative of the Year 2018 Date: Monday, April 15, 2019 (Spanish below, Español abajo) On behalf of the HIFA Steering Group, we are delighted to announce the winners of our HIFA Country Representative of the Year awards.
	HIFA Appeal launch, 14 March 2019: Five presentations by HIFA members Date: Saturday, April 6, 2019 The five short presentations by HIFA members are now available on YouTube here 1. Neil Pakenham-Walsh (HIFA Coordinator): Introduction to HIFA (18 mins) (sous-titré en français)
	Membership of HIFA Forums, Jan-Dec 2018 Date: Sunday, February 24, 2019 HIFA continues to grow steadily and total membership is now more than 19,000. The largest forums continue to be the main HIFA forum (English), CHIFA (English), and HIFA-Portuguese. HIFA-French and HIFA-Zambia continue to grow. In November 2018 we launched HIFA-Spanish in collaboration with WHO, PAHO and the WHO Collaborating Centre at the Andalucian School of Public Health. HIFA-Spanish is our fourth language and aligns with our strategic commitment to multilingualism. See the PDF below for further details.
	HIFA launches fundraising appeal Date: Wednesday, February 20, 2019 HIFA is launching a fundraising appeal on 14th March at the HIFA office in Charlbury, near Oxford. HIFA's activities, projects and forums continue to grow rapidly in size and number, and we aim to raise enough money to recruit a second paid member of staff to work with the coordinator, Neil Pakenham-Walsh. Our immediate aim is to raise at least £75,000 per annum for our work in 2019 (this includes all 6 forums, 13 projects, salaries, admin, publications etc). Eventually we hope to raise £150-200k per annum.
	The Lancet: Sponsorship of paediatric associations by manufacturers of breast milk substitutes Date: Saturday, February 16, 2019 Congratulations to CHIFA Lead moderator Tony Waterston and Charlotte Wright for their publication on 9 February in The Lancet. Their article is highlighted in this week's print Lancet which features their quote on the front cover: "Surely the time has come to close the door on industry funding of paediatric organisations and protect our breastfeeding mothers from unfair influence."
	HIFA Blog: Month in Review, December 2018 - Plagiarism Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2019 Quote of the month: “I am my own plagiarism software and have not used any of the trademark software. This is because I learnt to consciously cite as appropriate.” (HIFA member Olufemi Ajumobi, National Malaria Programme, Nigeria)
	BMJ Paeds Open Editorial: Why health information needs to be accessible to all Date: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 In this editorial, Tony Waterston (lead moderator, CHIFA) and Neil Pakenham Walsh (coordinator, HIFA) discuss problems with the provision of health information to healthcare providers around the world and the work of CHIFA (Child Healthcare Information for All).
	HIFA-Spanish launches on 7 November 2018! HIFA-Espanol se lanza el 7 de noviembre de 2018! Date: Monday, November 5, 2018 (Español abajo) We are delighted to announce that HIFA-Spanish is launching on 7 November 2018. HIFA-Spanish: is a global campaign and discussion forum to improve the availability and use of reliable health information in Spanish for all (general public, health professionals, policymakers).
	HIFA presentation at Health Systems Research Symposium: Universal Access to Healthcare Information Date: Monday, October 22, 2018 Last week at HSR2018, a major international conference on global health research, Geoff Royston gave a poster presentation on behalf of HIFA to draw attention to the need, in progressing and monitoring the Sustainable Development Goal on Universal Health Coverage, to include the key component of universal access to essential healthcare information, and the growing opportunity to achieve this through making use of the global spread of mobile phones.
	Why did I join HIFA? by Julie N Reza Date: Friday, August 10, 2018 From August 2018 we invite individual HIFA members to share their story about why they joined and HIFA and what HIFA means to you. See our first video from Julie N Reza (HIFA Steering Group)! We invite all HIFA members to contact us if you would like to share your story about why you joined HIFA and what it means for you. Not yet a HIFA member? Join here (free). We also welcome your comments and suggestions as we develop this new programme.