In response to the paper by Oxman et al. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01410768251384317
There is general consensus that more collaboration is needed to promote informed health choices, but this needs to go way beyond the Cochrane and Campbell Collaborations. The collaboration requires representation from every part of the global evidence ecosystem - those who generate, publish, synthesise, repackage, avail and apply evidence. https://www.hifa.org/about-hifa The current global evidence ecosystem isn't working, largely because of intrinsic weakenesses such as poor communication and cooperation among stakeholders, poor understanding of the drivers and barriers in the ecosystem itself, and an almost total absence of political and financial commitment to what is surely our common goal: universal access to reliable healthcare information - a world where every person will have access to the reliable healthcare information they need to protect their own health and the health of others. HIFA has been encouraging WHO to explicitly champion universal access to reliable healthcare information, and this came through as the #1 recommendation in our recent global consultation (https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/other_publications_uploads/HIFA...). On behalf of the WHO-HIFA Collaboration Group (https://www.hifa.org/projects/hifa-official-relations-who) I am delighted to report that we believe WHO is on the verge of explicitly championing universal access, and that would be a game-changer, not only for promoting informed health choices, but for global health.
HIFA is also calling on the global representative bodies of key stakeholders in the global evidence ecosystem to declare their political support for universal access. To date, the World Medical Association (representing the world's 10 million docotrs) and the International Federation of Library Associations (representing the world's library and information professionals) have done so. We recently invited the World Association of Medical Editors to do the same and we await their response.
https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-statement-on-healthcare-informatio...
https://www.ifla.org/news/health-information-is-a-right-new-ifla-statement/
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