PHM-Exch> Open Access and Healthcare Information For All by 2015

[Neil Pakenham-Walsh, UK]

PLoS/HIFA2015 Webinar, 28th March 2012: Can Open 
Access publishing provide Healthcare Information For All by 2015

Dear PHM colleagues,

People are dying for lack of knowledge. Tens of 
thousands of people die every day, often for the 
simple reason that the parent, carer or health 
worker lacks the information and knowledge they 
need to save them. www.hifa2015.org

You are invited to attend the first HIFA2015 
Webinar, supported by PLoS, the Public Library of 
Science, a HIFA2015 Supporting Organisation and a 
leading publisher of open access journals. The 
event will take place on 28th March 2012 at 
15:00-16:30h London/UK time (=14:00-15:30h GMT) and the theme is:

Can Open Access publishing provide Healthcare Information For All by 2015?

At the bottom of this message are details on how to prepare for this event.

Healthcare Information For All by 2015 is the 
goal of HIFA2015, on online community of 
thousands of health professionals, publishers, 
librarians and others worldwide who are committed 
to a future where healthcare providers will have 
access to the healthcare knowledge they need to 
prevent and manage disease and injury. Every day, 
people are dying for lack of knowledge. By 2015, 
lack of access to basic healthcare knowledge will 
no longer be a major contributing factor to 
avoidable death and suffering in poor and middle-income countries.

Over the next 2 weeks, starting TODAY 14th March, 
we shall start to explore the issues here on the 
HIFA2015 email forum. Here are some issues to consider - what do you think?

1. MEETING INFORMATION NEEDS: Articles in Open 
Access journals are available free to anyone with 
an internet connection, and can be freely shared 
and reproduced. To what extent do current OA 
journals help healthcare providers (doctors, 
nurses, midwives...) to reduce suffering and save 
lives in poor and middle-income countries? Do 
current OA journals provide the information 
healthcare providers need? Or, at the moment, are 
they only relevant to special groups such as 
researchers, development professionals, academics and high-level professionals?

2. WHERE THERE IS NO INTERNET: What about the 
vast majority of healthcare providers in low and 
middle-income countries (LMICs), who do not have 
regular internet access? Do OA journals make any 
difference to them - perhaps indirectly, by 
allowing re-use? For example, printing and 
incorporation in teaching aids? What advantages 
(or disadvantages) do OA journals bring to those 
who are responsible for production of systematic 
reviews, for guideline development, and for 
production of reference and educational materials?

3. HOW CAN OPEN ACCESS PUBLISHING BE DEVELOPED 
FURTHER in the coming 3 years to help ensure that 
healthcare providers in LMICs will have access to 
the information they need to learn, to diagnose, 
to manage and prevent disease, and to save lives 
and reduce suffering?  How can open access 
publishers work with healthcare providers to 
support a transition from information dependence 
to information autonomy  and thereby contribute 
to overall sustainable economic development and 
enhanced quality of life in LMICs.
--

HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE FIRST HIFA2015 WEBINAR

Here are the details you need to prepare for the 
HIFA2015 Webinar (please forward this email to 
your contacts and networks and encourage them to join us):

Date: 28th March 2012 at 15:00-16:30h London/UK time (=14:00-15:30h GMT)
To check the time in your country, please refer to the World Clock
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Programme (further details to follow):

1. Introduction: Neil Pakenham-Walsh (Coordinator, HIFA2015)
2. Open Access publishing and HIFA2015: Virginia 
Barbour (Chief Editor, PLoS Medicine)
3. Open discussion, including Commentary from 
systematic reviewers, researchers and health 
professionals in low- and middle-income countries.

If you would like to participate in the webinar, 
we encourage you to please contact us to register 
(free) by 21st March. Please send your name, 
position, organisation and country of residence to: webinars at hifa2015.org

Registration is recommended and will help us 
understand who is our audience and will help us 
to prepare the Webinar, but it is not mandatory - 
anyone can join the session directly on the day without prior registration.

We shall be using Elluminate Live! web 
conferencing software. If you are not familiar 
with Elluminate, please join us for a practice 
session online in the week before the conference. 
There will be two practice sessions:

Practice Session 1: Monday 19th March at 
15:00-16:00h London/UK time (=14:00-15:00h GMT)
Practice Session 2: Friday 23 March at 
15:00-16:00h London/UK time (=14:00-15:00h GMT)

Anyone with an interest is welcome to 
participate. All you need is an internet 
connection and a headset (headphones and built-in 
microphone). You will need to set up your 
computer before the event. This can be done any 
time, any day. Once you are set up, you will be 
able to participate in any HIFA2015 Webinar. 
Instructions to set up are here: http://bit.ly/hifa2015-setup

Also, we’d be grateful for help to publicise this 
webinar as widely as possible. A flyer (PDF, 120kb) is available here.
http://www.hifa2015.org/wp-content/uploads/HIFA2015-PLoS-Webinar-flyer-1-March-2012.pdf

We have also created buttons that you can add to 
your website simply by copying and pasting a short string of HTML code.
http://www.hifa2015.org/hifa2015-webinars/help-to-publicise-hifa-webinars/

You can also find HIFA2015 on twitter, so send us 
a tweet and let everyone know about the webinar.
https://twitter.com/hifa2015

Please contact us if you have any questions 
regarding content or technical problems: webinars at hifa2015.org

Virginia Barbour, Chief Editor, PLoS Medicine

Donna Okubo, Senior Manager of Community Outreach and Advocacy, PLoS

Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Coordinator, HIFA2015

About PLoS

PLoS is a nonprofit publisher and advocacy 
organization. The mission of PLoS is to 
accelerate progress in science and medicine by 
leading a transformation in research 
communication. Everything that PLoS publishes is 
open-access ­ freely available online for anyone 
to use. Sharing research encourages progress, 
from protecting the biodiversity of our planet to 
finding more effective treatments for diseases such as cancer.

About HIFA2015

HIFA2015 (Healthcare Information For All by 2015) 
is a global campaign and knowledge network 
administered by the Global Healthcare Information 
Network, a non-profit organisation working to 
improve the quality of health care in developing 
countries. HIFA2015 is one of 5 global forums 
collectively known as HIFA Global Forums, 
bringing together more than 7500 health workers, 
librarians, publishers, researchers and 
policymakers in more than 2000 organisations 
across 163 countries worldwide, in 3 languages 
(English, French, Portuguese). One-third of our 
members are based in Africa, one-third in Europe, 
and one-third in the rest of the world. We are 
committed to a common goal: By 2015, every person 
worldwide will have access to an informed health 
care provider. Over 130 leading health and 
development organisations worldwide have declared 
their commitment to the HIFA2015 goal. Together 
we are working for a future where people are no 
longer dying for lack of basic healthcare 
knowledge. Further information: www.hifa2015.org 
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