E-DRUG: Re: Books for Developing Countries: Call for $$$$

Dear Syed,

The Global Health Network recently had a meeting at the Worldbank addressing
the problem of lack of essential information in developing countries. They
suggest the Internet as the solution for this kind of problems.

Although online-reading of the Internet is rare and full text retrieval from
Internet sources is expensive they suggest 'restricted area servers':
limited areas where sources like for example the British Medical Journal can
be read with very low costs.

If you want to know more about the Global Health Network; look at their
home-page:
http://www.pitt.edu/HOME/GHNet/GHNet.html. They also have a mailing list.

For those interested I have enclosed a recent editorial in the BMJ
describing the International Network for the Availability of Scientific
Publications (INASP):

         ----------------------------------------------------------
         BMJ No 7074 Volume 314

         Editorial Saturday 11 January 1997
         ----------------------------------------------------------

         Meeting the information needs of health workers in
         developing countries

         A new programme to coordinate and advise

              Health workers in the developing world are starved
              of the information that is the lifeblood of
              effective health care.(1)(2) As a direct result,
              their patients suffer and die. In the words of the
              late James Grant, former executive director of
              Unicef "The most urgent task before us is to get
              medical and health knowledge to those most in need
              of that knowledge. Of the approximately 50 million
              people who were dying each year in the late 1980s,
              fully two thirds could have been saved through the
              application of that knowledge."(2)

              Providing access to reliable health information for
              health workers in developing countries is
              potentially the single most cost effective and
              achievable strategy for sustainable improvement in
              health care. Cost effective because the amounts of
              money required are negligible compared with those
              invested in health services. Achievable because
              providers of health information have the will and
              commitment to make it happen, and because
              information technology presents exciting new
              opportunities to complement conventional methods of
              dissemination. And sustainable because information
              access is the sine qua non of the professional
              development of all health workers-the most vital
              asset of any healthcare system.

              In 1994 and 1995 the BMJ hosted international
              meetings to look for ways to improve the
              dissemination of health information to, from, and
              within the developing world.(1) The meetings showed
              that the overall impact of providing health
              information would be greatly enhanced by increased
              coordination, analysis, and funding. A new programme
              was needed to serve as a point of reference for
              those who supply and receive information, to build a
              global picture of their activities and needs, and to
              argue their case with others. This programme is now
              being introduced within an existing non-profit
              organisation, the International Network for the
              Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP).
              Founded in 1991 by the International Council of
              Scientific Unions, INASP is a cooperative network of
              providers and recipients of science information,
              promoting the exchange of quality information (both
              printed and electronic) between and within the
              developed and developing world.

              The new programme, INASP-Health, serves three main
              functions. Firstly, it provides a referral and
              advisory service for information providers and
              potential recipients. For example, institutions
              seeking health information can approach INASP
              directly and be put in touch with the organisations
              most likely to help. INASP-Health acts as a catalyst
              for new collaborations and initiatives and will soon
              be launching a dedicated email discussion list to
              facilitate cooperation and debate.

              Secondly, INASP-Health aims to build a global
              picture of health information priorities in the
              developing world and the most appropriate ways of
              addressing them. It is developing a specialised
              database of needs assessments, evaluations of cost
              effectiveness, and other material related to the
              provision of health information. These data will be
              made freely available to help with the planning and
              setting up of new programmes, to provide support for
              funding applications, and to help develop future
              strategies.

              The third function of INASP-Health is advocacy, both
              at a specific and a general level. For example, it
              works with organisations such as the Association for
              Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA)
              to promote their needs to a wider audience,
              negotiating with publishers and others on their
              behalf. On a wider scale, INASP-Health will work
              increasingly with international organisations like
              the World Health Organisation and World Medical
              Association and with governments and funding
              agencies to promote the development of cost
              effective strategies and to strengthen political and
              financial commitment

              INASP-Health aims,to ensure that the developing
              world does not get left behind by the information
              revolution. Rather, it wants to harness the enormous
              potential to provide the developing world with the
              information that for too long it has lacked.

              Supported by the Overseas Development Administration
              (UK) and the BMA

              Neil Pakenham-Walsh Programme manager, INASP-Health
              Carol Priestley Director
              The International Network for the Availability of
              Scientific Publications

              PO Box 2564,
              London W5 1ZD

              Richard Smith Editor, BMJ

              London WC1R 9JR

              References

              1 Kale R. Health information for the developing
              world. BMJ 1994;309:939-42.

              2 Grant J. Opening session, world summit on medical
              education, Edinburgh 8-12 August 1993. Med Educ
              1994; 28(suppl 1):11.

         ----------------------------------------------------------

Best regards,

Mark Raijmakers
Project Coordinator Pharma-project
Wemos
P.O.Box 1693
1000 BR Amsterdam
React by e-mail to wemos@antenna.nl, or marik@tip.nl (private)

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