'We support the championing role of WHO as recommended in the Health Information For All report and stand ready to play our part in strategy development.' Lancet Global Health 2024
Below are the citation and extracts of a lead editorial from The Lancet Global Health, and a comment from the HIFA Coordinator.
CITATION: Editorial| Volume 12, ISSUE 9, e1370, September 2024
Contemporary challenges to health information for all
The Lancet Global Health
Published: September, 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(24)00336-X
EXTRACTS
'Our lives are profoundly shaped by health information. Warning labels and high taxes on tobacco, regular physical exercise, and adherence to medication for blood pressure control are collective and individual decisions made on the basis of reliable health information. A recent WHO-commissioned survey by the global social movement Healthcare Information For All (HIFA) highlights the crucial role of universal access to health information in global population health and the urgent need for a strategy to this end.
'20 years ago, in an article in The Lancet that led to the formation of HIFA, Fiona Godlee and colleagues presented an inspiring vision that is health information for all by 2015. Unfortunately, we remain distant from this goal in 2024. Universal access to health information is a complex endeavour that requires an effective translation cycle of multiple interconnected components: from assessment of knowledge gaps, to research, to raw data, to rigorous evidence synthesis, to dissemination via suitable mediums, to individual knowledge and beliefs, and ultimately to treatment decisions, behavioural changes, and policy reforms. Any weak link in the cycle can undermine the end goal...
'There is no simple solution except for systematic strengthening of the entire cycle of health information translation...'
'As key actors responsible for shaping health information, WHO, governments, health professionals, researchers, media, and publishers must collaborate to ensure all weak links in the cycle are patched. We support the championing role of WHO as recommended in the Health Information For All report and stand ready to play our part in strategy development.'
COMMENT: This is hugely encouraging. Consensus is growing around the HIFA survey report and its conclusions. 2,410 respondents from 136 countries, representing every part of the global evidence ecosystem, resoundingly call on WHO to explicitly champion the goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information and to convene stakeholders to develop a global strategy to strengthen the global evidence ecosystem.
As The Lancet Global Health says, 'There is no simple solution except for systematic strengthening of the entire cycle of health information translation.' HIFA has been working since 2006 to strengthen the global evidence ecosystem by bringing stakeholders together in communities of practice; exploring drivers and barriers in the ecosystem, and promoting political and financial support for universal access. The HIFA Secretariat (1.2 staff) is far too small to address this huge challenge. We call on WHO to lead; HIFA and other partners will support.
Contact: Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator: neil@hifa.org
