Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/about-hifa
In my previous message I invited you to take a look at our new 'About HIFA' page. https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa
'HIFA (Healthcare Information For All) is a global campaign working in official relations with the World Health Organization. Our goal is universal access to reliable healthcare information: a world where every person, every health worker and every policymaker has access to the information they need to protect their own health and the health of others, and thereby help prevent millions of deaths every year...'
The page includes a section on what we mean by 'universal access to reliable healthcare information':
'Universal access to reliable healthcare information implies that every person and every health worker has access to the healthcare information they need to protect their own health and the health of others. By definition, such information should be:
- accurate and up to date;
- unbiased and reflect, as far as possible, the cumulative evidence based on robust research;
- in the appropriate language and format, and at the right technical level;
- relevant and applicable to the person’s immediate situation (which is always changing).
Every person should also be empowered to differentiate reliable healthcare information from the barrage of misinformation that does not fulfil these criteria.
The concept of 'universal access' includes past as well as current access to reliable healthcare information. What matters is that every person has the reliable healthcare knowledge they need to inform health decisions, whether this is through past or current exposure to reliable healthcare information.
Note: HIFA's definition of universal access does not mean that all information should be open access. Open access is an enabler of universal access but is neither a prerequisite nor sufficient for meeting information needs.'
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