Dear HIFA colleagues,
On behalf of the HIFA-WHO Collaboration working group, please find here two new short videos on the HIFA YouTube channel, from our webinar with HIFA supporting organisations on 7 November. Thanks to Ben Nicholls for technical support.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYPCpTTeoVg&t=7s
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbR7PB26GB0
1. Towards universal access to reliable healthcare information: A global consultation for the World Health Organization (Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, 8.4 minutes)
Neil presents the findings of the Global Consultation, which are available as a full report (hifa.org/report) and as an infographic (hifa.org/infographic). The presentation is a short version of a previous presentation by Bianca Pilla and Neil Pakenham-Walsh at the Global Evidence Summit in Prague on 10 September 2024. Following definitions of 'universal access to reliable healthcare information' and the 'global evidence ecosystem', Neil describes HIFA's work to accelerate progress, including advocacy through HIFA's 400 supporting organisations and universal-access policy statements from the World Medical Association (2019) and International Federation of Library Associations (2024). The Consultation included 2410 respondents from 136 countries, strongly endorsing 11 statements relating to access. The central message of the consultation is to urge WHO to *explicitly* champion universal access, and to convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy, with support from HIFA and partners. The lead sponsors of the Consultation were Oxford PharmaGenesis, Elsevier Foundation, and National Institute for Health and Care Research.
2. Towards universal access to reliable healthcare information: Comments from Isabelle Wachsmuth (WHO focal point for Global Healthcare Information Network/HIFA, 5.2 minutes)
Isabelle describes the longstanding collaboration between WHO and HIFA, including a letter of support from WHO for the launch of HIFA in 2006; technical collaboration on HIFA-French, -Portuguese, and -Spanish; and official relations status since 2022.
Next steps: HIFA and the WHO Office for NGOs in Official Relations have agreed a draft collaboration plan for 2025-2027. The first priority described in this plan is for HIFA: "To inform and support WHO’s work to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information. Activities contained in the collaboration plan may also support WHO’s activities towards increasing the availability and use of WHO's products, information and public health messages."
Specifically our first activity in 2025 will be: "To prepare a report for WHO on the findings of the global consultation (2023-4) and recommendations for next steps [and thereby] inform WHO’s work to accelerate progress towards universal access to reliable healthcare information."
The Office for NGOs in Official Relations has submitted our Collaboration Plan 2025-2027 for formal approval at the WHO Executive Board meeting in Geneva on 29 January 2025, and we are confident the Board will approve this and extend our official relations status through to 2027 so that we can build on our work to date.
Thank you to all for your support and we shall keep you informed on developments.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA-WHO Collaboration 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
