[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/15th-grand-challenge-global-public-heal... ]
In my last message I wrote: 'HIFA has been advocating since 2004 for WHO to explicitly champion the goal of universal access.' It would be more accurate to say "we" have been advocating since 2004, as HIFA was launched a little later in 2006. In 2004 I wrote a Lancet paper with Fiona Godlee (editor-in-chief, BMJ) and colleagues that provided the rationale for the subsequent development and launch of HIFA:
Can we achieve health information for all by 2015?
Godlee F, Pakenham-Walsh N et al.
The Lancet, Volume 364, Issue 9430, 295 - 300
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(04)16681-6/abstract
Here is the summary:
'Universal access to information for health professionals is a prerequisite for meeting the Millennium Development Goals and achieving Health for All. However, despite the promises of the information revolution, and some successful initiatives, there is little if any evidence that the majority of health professionals in the developing world are any better informed than they were 10 years ago. Lack of access to information remains a major barrier to knowledge-based health care in developing countries. The development of reliable, relevant, usable information can be represented as a system that requires cooperation among a wide range of professionals including health-care providers, policy makers, researchers, publishers, information professionals, indexers, and systematic reviewers. The system is not working because it is poorly understood, unmanaged, and under-resourced. This Public Health article proposes that WHO takes the lead in championing the goal of “Universal access to essential health-care information by 2015” or “Health Information for All”. Strategies for achieving universal access include funding for research into barriers to use of information, evaluation and replication of successful initiatives, support for interdisciplinary networks, information cycles, and communities of practice, and the formation of national policies on health information.'
WHO responded by reiterating their implicit support for 'health information for all', as stated in their 1947 Constitution, “The extension to all peoples of the benefits of medical, psychological and related knowledge is essential to the fullest attainment of health.” But they did not champion universal access to reliable healthcare information. Instead they provided a letter of support for HIFA to champion universal access (below). HIFA of course cannot acheive universal access alone, even with the support of the 400+ organisations that have endorsed the HIFA vision (their combined financial contributions to the HIFA secretariat are only $3k per year). Which is why we have continued to encourage WHO to take the lead.
Twenty years later, the central message of our global consultation 2023/2024 is that WHO should explicitly champion universal access and convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy for its realisation. HIFA stands ready to support.
There is wide consensus that when WHO explicitly champions universal access, this will be a game-changer. Many of us believe this moment is imminent.
Here again is the timeline for HIFA's advocacy on this issue, and WHO's response.
1948: WHO Constitution. 'The extension to all peoples of the benefits of medical, psychological and related knowledge is essential to the fullest attainment of health.'
2004: Lancet paper: Can we achieve health information for all by 2015? Godlee F, Pakenham-Walsh N et al. 'We propose that WHO takes the lead in championing the goal of "Universal access to essential health-care information by 2015" or "Health Information for All" https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673604166816/a...
2006: WHO letter of support for the launch of HIFA. https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/other_publications_uploads/Lett...
2019: WHO 13th Programme of Work. ‘WHO’s quintessential function is to ensure access to authoritative and strategic information on matters that affect peoples’ health’. https://www.who.int/about/general-programme-of-work/thirteenth
2020: Royston G, Pakenham-Walsh N, Zielinski C. Universal access to essential health information: accelerating progress towards universal health coverage and other SDG health targets. 'We call on all stakeholders—including governments, multilaterals (WHO, World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, International Labour Organization, International Telecommunication Union and others), funding bodies, policy-makers, health professionals and knowledge intermediaries—to work together to accelerate progress towards universal access to essential health information.' https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/5/e002475
2022: HIFA enters into official relations with WHO.
2023: Muscat D et al. Universal health information is essential for universal health coverage. https://fmch.bmj.com/content/11/2/e002090 (This is the first time, to our knowledge, that WHO authors have made this statement)
2024: 'The survey’s central message is for WHO to explicitly champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and for WHO and HIFA to convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy' Universal access to reliable healthcare information: A global consultation for the World Health Organization https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/articles/HIFA-WHO_report_final.pdf & https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/other_publications_uploads/HIFA...
January 2025: '... provide technical input for WHO`s consideration that may inform its work to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information' HIFA-WHO Collaboration Plan 2025-2027. https://publicspace.who.int/sites/GEM/official_relations_details.aspx?id... (This wording was proposed by HIFA and agreed by WHO.)
May 2025: 'We urge WHO to explicitly champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy for its realisation. We and our partners stand ready to support.' Official statement by HIFA at World Health Assembly https://www.hifa.org/news/hifa-makes-official-statement-78th-world-healt...
October: 2025: Strategic priority: 'Advocate for WHO to champion universal access and convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy to make it a reality'. HIFA Strategy 2025-2027. https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/other_publications_uploads/HIFA...
***December 2025: 'WHO is championing universal access to credible health information.'*** https://www.who.int/health-topics/infodemic#tab=tab_2
COMMENT (NPW): This latest contribution from WHO is the first time, to our knowledge, that WHO has stated it is 'championing universal access'. It notes that 'Through regional networks, such as the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance, WHO is fostering new approaches to meet changing needs for an evolving health emergency infodemic response'. But as our recent global consultation emphasises, a more vigorous and wider set of actions is needed. First, WHO needs to explicitly champion universal access through a high-level announcement (not through a few words buried on one of its web pages). Second, WHO needs to follow this through with a practical plan to realise the goal of universal access, which must include steps to convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy.
WHO has already agreed to this implicitly in our HIFA-WHO Collaboration Plan 2025-2027. In 2026, HIFA is seeking $30,000 to implement the first two activities in the plan:
Activity 1.1: Provide technical input for WHO`s consideration that may inform its work to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information ($10k)
Activity 1.2: Provide technical input for WHO`s consideration that may inform the Organization`s activities when considering the feasibility and development of a global strategy for universal access to reliable healthcare information ($20k)
Since this plan has been agreed, WHO has launched a very important new initiative that is directly relevant to the above.
'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.'
https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/who-explicitly-champions-universal-acce...
The Global Coalition for Evidence makes the same observations as we did in 2004, namely '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'. It has the same conclusion that we have been pressing for 20 years, namely that improving the availability and use of reliable healthcare information can only be achieved by better understanding and strengthening the global evidence ecosystem.
Applications to join the Coalition were put on hold during 2025 due to WHO restructuring but thankfully the Coalition has been retained and HIFA has applied to join it.
If you feel moved to make a financial contribution to our vital work in 2026 please contact me: neil@hifa.org
Best wishes, Neil
On behalf of the HIFA-WHO Collaboration Working Group
https://www.hifa.org/projects/hifa-official-relations-who
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