Dear HIFA colleagues,
'HIFA's purpose is to support communication, understanding and advocacy among all stakeholders in the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA supports communication through global discussion forums in multiple languages, and builds understanding through sponsored projects (in-depth explorations of priority topics). Together these provide the basis for evidence-informed advocacy for universal access to reliable healthcare information.' https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa
At the Global Evidence Summit in Prague in September 2024, we presented the results of HIFA's global consultation 2023-4 (with thanks to Bianca Pila, JBI). Respondents overwhelmingly called on WHO to explicitly champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and to convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy for its realisation.
We are delighted to learn that WHO is meeting this challenge through a new initiative 'Global Coalition for Evidence', which was launched at the same Prague conference.
Here is a description on the WHO website:
'Gathering and using evidence for better decision-making is not a new undertaking. Yet global efforts to expedite the use of evidence to address ongoing public health problems remain limited and largely disjointed. This hinders the potential for collaboration and creation of synergies, both of which are essential to improve health outcomes and realize the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
'The Global Coalition for Evidence is a WHO informal collaborative network of stakeholder organizations, united by a common goal to strengthen the global evidence ecosystem to improve health and well-being throughout the world. It aims to leverage the collective expertise and resources of its members to foster the integration of different evidence ecosystem workstreams and advance the institutionalization of evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) globally.
'Called for by the global EIDM stakeholder community and building on experiences accumulated over 20 years, the Global Coalition officially launched at the Global Evidence Summit 2024 to address the gaps in the global evidence ecosystem.'
https://www.who.int/initiatives/global-coalition-for-evidence
At the launch, Tanja Kuchenmuller, Unit Head, Evidence to Policy and Impact, Research for Health Department, WHO, noted: “In the context of the health challenges the world is facing today, the lack of collaboration across sectors and workstreams, disconnection among key players and duplication of work all hinder the development of rapid and robust solutions to improve the health of populations. The Coalition seeks to streamline these efforts, break down silos, and maximize the impact of evidence-informed decision-making to improve health outcomes.”
WHO was planning to issue a call for expressions of interest to join the Coalition. However, this has been deferred due to the ongoing restructuring process within WHO.
https://www.who.int/news/item/21-05-2025-update-on-the-call-for-expressi...
HIFA looks forward to working with the Coalition. With 20,000 members in 180 countries, HIFA is uniquely placed to strengthen advocacy, education and communications on universal access to reliable healthcare information and evidence-informed decision making. The HIFA vision is now endorsed by 400 supporting organisations and by the world's doctors and library and information professionals. This is a great opportunity for us to collaborate with WHO and partners and to multiply our collective capacity to accelerate progress.
WHO notes: 'If you are interested in becoming a member of the Coalition, please contact the WHO team at EIDM@who.int for more information.' I have done so on behalf of HIFA.
https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/campaigns-and-initiatives/...
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