1. Providing Access to Scholarly
Information in the Poorest Parts of the
World – How Far Can We Reach?
SATELLIFE
June 2, 2005
Brief Introduction to SATELLIFE
and our Services
SATELLIFE’s Information Services
Publications:
• HealthNet News Discussion groups:
•AfroNets
• HealthNet News, AIDS
•Essential Medicines
• HealthNet News Community (English, Spanish,
Health Russian)
• HealthNet News Nursing •Indices
•ProCaare
•ProNut
•ProCor
•Hnn-chat
•pdas4health
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2. What Information Is Provided?
• Public Health
• Medical
• Management
HealthNet News Since 1992
Priorities –
Tropical and Infectious Diseases • User Base
Maternal and Child Health 20,000*(estimated)
• 130 Countries
• Libraries
• Medical Schools
• Ministries of Health
• Clinics
• NGO’s
• Individuals
Who Reads HealthNet News?
• Physician 38 %
• Program Administrator 16%
• Student 11%
• Educator/Librarian/Journalist 8%
• Pharmacist 6%
• Research/Scientist 6%
• Nurse/Midwife 5%
• Allied Health Practitioner 5%
• Information Technologist 1%
• Others 2%
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3. Who Reads HealthNet News?
Occupational Setting
• Clinical health
40%
• Public health
60%
Gender
• Male
63%
• Female
37%
Impact?
In countries where we work – the average doctor
patient ratio is 20,000 to 1 for specialist it could
be as high as 1million to one
Most care is provided by enrolled nurses in rural
clinics.
We are reaching policy makers and providers who
care for millions of patients every year in the
most challenging environments, with the most
challenging diseases and fewest tools to
prevent, diagnose and treat those diseases.
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Number 589 HEALTHNET NEWS Nov. 5, 2004
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This weekly bulletin is supported by generous
charitable contributions from individuals and
institutions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMMENTARY
By Malcolm Bryant, MD, MPH
TUBERCULOSIS
1. Why and how tuberculosis control should be
included in health sector reviews
DIABETES
2. Dysglycemia: A new cardiac risk factor?
3. Diagnosing foot infection in diabetes
4. Is diet-controlled diabetes really controlled?
PRIMARY FRACTURE CARE
5. The role of the traditional bonesetter in primary
fracture care in Nigeria
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4. Contributing Publishers
Alan Guttmacher Institute Kaiser Foundation
The American Academy of Pediatrics Kluwer
The American College of Physicians Kenya Medical Association House
The American College of Surgeons Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins
American Public Health Association Makerere University
Blackwell Science Medical Association of Tanzania
British Medical Journal Publishing Group Maney Publishing
Baywood Massachusetts Medical Society
Elsevier The Medical Association of South Africa
Elsevier Science Oxford University Press
Engenderhealth Public Library of Science
Environmental Health Project UNAIDS
Equinet University of California San Francisco
Ethiopian Public Health The Royal Society of Medicine Press
Family Health International Limited
François-Xavier Bagnoud Center-HSPH University of Chicago Press
Family Health International UN-AIDS
Indian Academy of Gastroenterology WHO
International Centre for Eye Health Women's Health and Action Research
International Union Against Tuberculosis Centre
and Lung Disease
Publisher Relations
• Publisher issues and
concerns
– Copyright
– Unauthorized re-
distribution in the North
– Error in translation
– Resale of content
• How to balance
– Specific use agreements
– Subscriptions
– Monitoring
– Good faith
Constraints and Concerns
USERS: PUBLISHERS:
• Access • Copyright
• Voice • Open Access
• Inclusion • Cost
• Habit • Technology
• Money • Scientific Integrity
• Electricity • Quality
• Prioritization • Prioritization
• Philanthropic Mission
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5. The Reality vs. The Vision
• What ’s the reality in Tanzania and other low resource
countries, and what should our vision be?
– For Urgent Information?
– For Professional Development and Continued Learning?
Harvard Users: Login now to use licensed Textbooks
resources! Indexes and Databases
Quick Links Browse New Resources
Find It @ Harvard (more info ) SEARCH/BROWSE BY SUBJECT
MEDLINE ExploreWebResources
PubMed with full text(more info ) BROWSE BY TYPE OF RESOURCE
CLINICAL REFERENCE Clinical Trials
Harrison's Online Data Analysis Tools
Stat!Ref DataCollections
Funding Information
EBM Reviews
ACP Journal Club Library Catalogs
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews Statistical and Numeric Data
Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects Metadirectories
MY DIGITAL LIBRARY Newsmedia
Select your most frequently used resources Practice Guidelines
SEARCH/BROWSE BY TITLE Tutorials and Study Guides
All Resources All Resource Types ...
Journals
The Problem of Information Access in
Developing Countries
• Access
• Relevancy
• Timeliness
• Inclusion
• Dissemination
• Languages
• Lack of full text
• Technology
and Infrastructure
Most Front –Line Health Providers
Have No Access to Information
Resources at the Point of Care
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6. There is need for information that is
helpful, locally relevant.
Urgent Information Needs
email:
"Rukia, 4 months old
now, has congenital
biliary atresia. ...for
this little baby, a CT
scan was
being waited for and
surgery was not
done. Please advise!"
Tanzania
An Email Link to Help
Email:
"A week old child cannot breastfeed as
her mother cannot produce milk...one
month old now and feeding on dry
coconut water. How do we deal with
such a case?"
Solomon Islands
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7. Ongoing Provider Education and
Professional Development Needs
Lucian Leape
Medicine is Among the Most Unsafe
Practices/Professions
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8. Healthworkers don’t make mistakes
deliberately.
There are system errors
Including lack of access to information.
Countway vs. My way
Media is present at some medical school libraries but
usually doesn’t meet demand of timeliness and relevancy
• 3,500 Journals at
Countway Library
• Journals in
Tanzania - < 50
• How relevant is the
information we are getting
in Africa?
– Africa is developing fast
and sees need for timely
relevant information
• How much access to we
have?
– Inability to choose type of
information due to costs
and copyrights.
– Need for full text articles
which are relevant and
timely.
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9. Organizational Responses
Health InterNetwork Access to Research
• SATELLIFE Initiative
• HINARI
• NLM As the first phase of making vital health content
available, the Health InterNetwork provides here a vast
• WHO library of the latest and best information on public
• INASP (HIF-Net) health: more than 2,000 scientific publications, one of
• Health & the world's largest collections of biomedical literature.
Development Networks This collection is available through the efforts of WHO
together with the 6 biggest biomedical publishers:
Blackwell, Elsevier Science, the Harcourt Worldwide
STM Group, Wolters Kluwer International Health &
Science, Springer Verlag and John Wiley. It has been
described by WHO Director-General Dr Gro Harlem
Brundtland as "perhaps the biggest step ever taken
towards reducing the health information gap between
rich and poor countries.“
Reaching into Rural Settings
Uganda Health Information
Network
The Vision
• A world where health care providers and
scientists have access to important
information that will enable them to care
for their patients and save lives.
• A world where the South participates in a
meaningful way in intellectual and
scientific development and discovery.
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10. What Can You Contribute?
• Join as a content
contributing partner
• Provide financial support
to keep our publications
growing
• Share our story with
others
• Support Fair Use and
Open Access for those in
the poorest parts of the
world
Our Collective Challenge
How far can we reach?
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