Dear HIFA colleagues,
On behalf of HIFA I would like to thank Meena Nathan Cherian for delivering our official statement at the World Health Assembly today.
The statement was delivered on behalf of Global Healthcare Information Network, the non-profit organisation that administeres HIFA as its sole activity.
Meena's delivery of the statement is recorded on video on the WHO website. To access it, go to
https://www.who.int/about/governance/world-health-assembly/seventy-ninth
and select WHA79 - Committee A, Ninth Committee A meeting, 22/05/2026 - 09:05-12:11
and then move the cursor to: 2:01:28
Here is the full text of the statement:
"Universal access to reliable healthcare information is essential for universal health coverage. Every person and every healthcare worker needs access to relevant and reliable healthcare information to protect their own health and the health of others. A recent global consultation by Global Healthcare Information Network (HIFA.org) concluded that this can only be achieved if WHO explicitly champions universal access to reliable healthcare information and leads efforts to strengthen the global evidence ecosystem. We commend WHO for launching the Global Coalition for Evidence to strengthen the ecosystem. We invite our colleagues across WHO and all stakeholders to work with us to strengthen the ecosystem."
Note: HIFA has multiple links across WHO but this year we wanted to highlight the new WHO Global Coalition for Evidence. The Global Coalition for Evidence was launched in September 2024 after the HIFA global consultation which called on WHO to champion universal access to reliable healthcare information and to convene stakeholders to strengthen the global evidence ecosystem. This represents an important step forward. The Coalition and HIFA are (to my knowledge) the only global initiatives whose purpose is to strengthen the global evidence ecosystem, and we are in contact with them to discuss opportunities for collaboration.
The challenge for both HIFA and the Coalition is that each of us is constrained in what we can do because we have minimal resources. I hope that WHO will take note of our statement and prioritise the work of the Coalition going forward.
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