Yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Health Metrics Network, a global partnership to improve access to information for health care practitioners and policy-makers. From the UN press release: 'The Health Metrics Network (HMN) is comprised of countries, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, foundations, global health initiatives and technical experts and aims to boost the availability and use of timely, reliable health information by drawing together the funding and development of core health information systems in developing countries. In some areas of the world, even basic facts such as a person's birth, their death and cause of death are not recorded," said WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook. "The Health Metrics Network will work to close this gap by helping countries improve their ability to gather this vital health information. Accurate data is critical to identifying problems and implementing effective solutions for people's health." HMN will also bring together health and statistical constituencies to build capacity and expertise for strengthening health information systems so local, regional and global decision-makers have quality data on which to base decisions to improve health. It responds to a need for evidence-based policy-making that can enable countries to make more efficient use of health budgets....The Network has received an initial grant of $50 million over seven years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and additional contributions from other donors, including the United Kingdom's Department for International Development, the United States Agency for International Development (UNAID) and the Danish International Development Agency.'
More from the WHO press release: 'HMN partners have agreed to align their individual efforts around a common health information framework thereby reducing overlapping and duplicative demands that have burdened fragile information systems in developing countries in the past....The initial HMN partners include: African Population and Health Research Center; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Danish International Development Agency, Department for International Development (U.K.), European Commission, Ghana Health Services, Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GAVI, Ministry of Health, Mexico, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, Statistics South Africa, Swedish International Development Agency, Uganda Bureau of Statistics, UNICEF, United Nations Statistics Division, U.S. Agency for International Development, World Bank, and World Health Organization. HMN will meet its objectives through a range of activities. Low- and middle-income countries will be eligible to apply for grants of up to US$ 500 000 for health information system strengthening and can call upon HMN partners for technical assistance. By 2011, HMN expects that at least 80 countries will be able to report on agreed, standardized global health goals and indicators in a timely and sound manner.'
Posted by
Peter Suber at 5/18/2005 12:02:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
