Contact with African Health Ministries (5)
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I read your e-mail with some amusement because nearly 10 years ago I
approached the Commonwealth Secretariat with a request for exactly the
same information. At the time I was involved in the design and market-
ing of a (then) new MBA Programme at the Centre for Health Planning and
Management at the University of Keele. I was looking to contact key
personnel in health ministries to determine what their priorities needs
were regarding senior management training.
To my surprise, the Commonwealth Secretariat was unable to offer much
assistance. Their mailing lists at the time were somewhat outdated and
partial in coverage. This was not a problem unique to the Secretariat
as I found when I approached a number of development agencies and non-
government agencies. Few if any were able to offer more than a few
pages of 'random' addresses, many seemingly abstracted from individ-
ual's filofaxes or diaries.
This brief preamble brings me to the main points I wanted to make.
Firstly, any database rapidly ages and becomes obsolete, particularly
mailing lists which seek to identify postholders by name.
Secondly, the costs of compiling and maintaining such databases has -
in the past - been quite significant. Large mailshots overseas are time
consuming to process and expensive to send. Furthermore, mailed re-
quests for info and updates are often ignored, or returned so late that
they are often not included in the updating exercise. In many cases,
the target groups see little point in returning a form that they per-
ceive to be in the interests of the mailer rather than the mailee.
Thirdly, many agencies have shared or overlapping needs for the same
data. It makes little sense to try and maintain multiple data sets,
when a single master-set would serve multiple users needs. This does
not even take into account the reduced pressure on Ministries to supply
mailing details to multiple enquirers.
Fourthly, information of this sort shares many of the features of a
'public good' in that its use by several parties does not impose costs
on the other users. Of course, there may be some potential users who
might seek to gain a commercial advantage by denying others access to
contact information. However, such instances are hopefully rare.
Whilst I recognise the particular needs of the Commonwealth Secretar-
iat, I feel that is it timely to develop a single Internet directory of
health agencies world-wide. Ideally, the directory would comprise a
searchable database that would return only the required records in a
designated format. For example, one might search for all Minister's by
e-mail address, or all Permanent Secretaries by fax number. There is no
reason why it need be restricted to health ministries, and NGOs and de-
velopment agencies could be added. Obviously, one would need to estab-
lish a common and universal format for all the data fields.
There are several advantages to having a common database such as this,
not least because it is in the interests of people to be included. An-
other advantage is that users can send corrections and updates to a
single point and have their own records updated immediately. I do not
underestimate the workload involved in establishing and maintaining
such a database, and it is very likely that the costs would need to be
underwritten by a generous sponsor or an interested party. WHO or an-
other development agency, or even the Commonwealth Secretariat spring
to mind.
As to the benefits, one need only think of the potential to e-mail im-
portant data to selected health sector personnel world-wide (although I
am equally aware of the potential for junk mail).
I am confident, though, that if in another 10 years I needed the same
information as I did 10 years ago, I could obtain it in a day rather
than the months it took then. We shall see!
Geoff Hoare
Windhoek, Namibia
mailto:gahoare@iafrica.com.na
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