Dear Evelyn,
You write:
"Once again, if it is (still) worth my 2 cents (hopefully): back in 1989 a booklet FACTS for LIFE, a communication challenge was produced and also ALL for HEALTH, a resource book published by UNICEF-UNESCO-WHO in partnership with many of the medical and children’s organizations worldwide: about birth-spacing, safe motherhood, breastfeeding, Child growth, immunizations, diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections, hygiene, malaria and HIV-AIDS > Could we suggest-recommend to be updated and again released through eBook/s by HIFA and CHIFA (?) We still need these channels of communication and renewed international Leaders (like us!). I would love to collaborate, once again!"
I completely agree with you. Basic healthcare information presented in ways that people can understand is vital. Lack of basic healthcare inforamtion is deadly. I often refer to the common belief that fluids should be WITHHELD from a child with diarrhoea, thereby tragically increasing risk of death from dehydration.
Back in 2004 I co-authored a Lancet paper with Fiona Godlee and others where we wrote:
"A community health worker may find a single copy of Where there is no doctor, adapted and written in the local language more useful than access to thousands of international journals."
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(04)16681-6/abstract
This caused some consternation among many at the time, but the statement has remained unassailable and I stand by it.
That is not to say that access to original research in journals is not important. Of course it is. But such access only applies to component 2 of the global evidence ecosystem - Publishing evidence. https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa/hifa-vision-mission-strategy In order to meet the information needs of end-users, we need integrity of the whole system, including synthesis (as in systematic reviews - clinical decisions should rarely if ever be made on the basis of a single research paper) and packaging of evidence for end-users (eg Facts of Life; Where There is No Doctor). The latter was originally written in 1970 in Spanish by HIFA member David Werner. The latest edition (2024) was published by Hesperian: 'Considered by the World Health Organization to be the most widely-used health care manual in the world, this classic title is for health workers, clinicians, health educators, midwives, community leaders, and others involved in primary health care delivery and health promotion around the world.' https://store.hesperian.org/products/where-there-is-no-doctor
The Gates Foundation could and should be doing much more to support initiatives that meet basic healthcare information needs. This would have more impact than a narrow focus on technical interventions.
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