The World Health Organization and reputed publishers have recently launched the "Access to Research" internet initiative for the developing countries. Thousands of doctors, researchers, health policy-makers and others in about 70 developing countries will therefore have free access to one of the world's largest collections of biomedical literature.
Last year WHO, along with the British Medical Journal, approached the six biggest medical journal publishers. The aim was to bring them together with the countries concerned to seek a more affordable pricing structure for online access to their international biomedical journals. This is one of the most important step taken towards reducing the health information gap between rich and poor countries.
The "Access to Research" initiative enables accredited universities, medical schools, research centres and other public institutions in the developing countries to gain access to the wealth of scientific information contained in more than 1000 different biomedical journals produced by the six publishers. So far subscriptions to these journals, both electronic and print, have had uniform pricing irrespective of the geographical location of these institutions. Many important journals prove beyond the reach of the large majority of health and research institutions in the poorest countries as they cost more than US$1500 per year.
This initiative will make more than 1,000 important journals available free or at significantly reduced charges to institutions in the developing countries. This availability began recently with the opening of the Health InterNetwork website: www.healthinternetwork.net. It will involve similar access at significantly reduced prices for institutions in the other countries. The "Access to Research" initiative is expected to last for at least three years. It aims to strengthen public health services by providing access to high-quality, relevant and timely health information through an internet portal. It further aims to improve communication and networking. The project will provide training as well as information and communication technology applications for public health.
Press Release WHO/07 January 2002