United Nations Millennium Action Plan Health InterNetwork World Health Organization April 2001

We the Peoples: The Health InterNetwork ”...As a concrete demonstration of how we can build bridges over digital divides, I am pleased to announce the Health InterNetwork....This network will establish… 10,000 on-line sites in hospitals, clinics and public health facilities throughout the developing world. It aims to provide (tailored) access to relevant up-to-date health and medical information......The equipment and Internet access, wireless where necessary, will be provided by a consortium… in co-operation with foundation and corporate partners....Training and capacity-building… is an integral part of the project. The World Health Organization is leading the United Nations in developing this initiative with external partners." Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan 'We the Peoples’- The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century Millennium Report of the United Nations Secretary-General

Health InterNetwork: Goals Strengthen public health services, using Internet technologies Improve access to high quality, relevant and timely information Facilitate communication for public health practitioners, researchers and policy makers

Health InterNetwork: Concept The cornerstones of the project: l Content: provided through an Internet- based web portal l Connectivity: at selected information access points in countries l Training: skills development for public health information access, management and use

World Health Organization March 2001 Health InterNetwork Community Initial participants: l health service providers l researchers and scientists l policy makers at all levels

Guiding Principles l Synergy l concept based on existing successful projects l content aggregation and authentication, not creation l built from the “roots”, not top down l Equity l priced information l communication cost

Health InterNetwork: Partners l United Nations agencies l Governments l Non-governmental organizations l Foundations l Private sector l Collaborating institutions, universities and health centers

Health InterNetwork: Phases Planning & pilot pilot Implementation Transition to Transition to broader scope broader scope Transition to Transition to broader scope broader scope Dynamic public health network health network Dynamic public health network health network Phase I Phase II Phase III Aim Three phases over 7+ years: l 6-12 month planning and development l 1-year pilot operation & evaluation l 5-year transition to broader scale Aim: Dynamic public health information network at country and international level.

Health InterNetwork: Needs Assessment Basis for pilot project development l User information and communication needs l Public health content inventories l Connectivity assessments (hardware, telecom, logistics) l Analyses of public health information environments

HIN Content Categories Statistical data Numerical information sets Information collections Health content for varied purposes Scientific publications Peer-reviewed publications and their indexes IT health applications ICT tools for public health

World Health Organization March 2001 Planning and Pilot Phase Pilot phase will develop, over 1 year: l Health InterNetwork concept l partnership structure and roles l framework for site selection l site assessment, plans and objectives l content consortia and contributions for portal l portal concept, construction and testing.

Health InterNetwork: Pilot Selection Initial selection criteria l Established public health project or program l Possible to establish pilot in 6 months l Potential to measure outcomes l Addresses broad user spectrum (across the pilots) l Expressed interest and commitment in country l Relevant to WHO public health priority area l Potential for contribution to global public health community through HIN

World Health Organization March 2001 Research Network Pilot I Goal: l Test whether online delivery of high quality information and international connectivity answers the information and communication needs of developing country researchers Partners: l WHO Collaborating Centres in three geographic regions l Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) l International content producers and aggregators

World Health Organization March 2001 Research Network Pilot 2 Pilot deliverables: l Feedback on the suitability of the model (content, ICT components, training) l Project plan developed with partners for large- scale roll-out l Development of models for including, supporting, promoting locally-produced information l Options for sustainability of large-scale project

World Health Organization March 2001 Why Researchers? l One of key HIN target groups: research is fundamental to improving public health l Relatively international character of health and medical research: potential ease of scale-up l RPC programme priority: defined by developing country scientists l WHO priority area: building skills and capacity

World Health Organization March 2001 Research Pilot Site Selection l WHO Collaborating Centres l Clear identification of sites with WHO is important to partners (private sector, foundations) l Multi-country sites will help highlight context specific differences l Priority areas for WHO (Africa) and OSI/Soros Foundation (Eastern Europe, Central Asia) l Chosen from candidates proposed by WHO research programmes (primarily TDR, HRP)

Examples of Content Areas Data & statistics Government reports & policies Library & reference News Electronic meeting & communication Research & laboratory reports

World Health Organization March 2001 Support existing public health programs Start from identified needs Global public good Equity No commercial activity PartnersPartners HINConceptContent Connectivity Training

Health InterNetwork