1. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006 Access to evidence HEN - sources of evidence Collection of health and health- related information resources in support to policymaking in the European Region

2. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006 Objective Facilitate access to: 1.information on scale, magnitude and causes of health problems 2.information on the effectiveness of interventions 3.information on the implementation of an intervention, context, barriers and faults, reaction of main stakeholders, etc.

3. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006 What can readers find? Presents European and international organizations and agencies –producers of evidence –have expertise in formulating evidence- based policies Their information products HEN web site contains 44 entries –16 international agencies –7 databases –21 national agencies –770 information products

4. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006 Information products available Health technology reports Regular health reports Results of surveillance studies Guidelines Best practices collections Training publications Recommendations Case studies Project evaluations Databases: bibliographic, factual, legislative, etc Journals/periodical publications Strategies and action plans in the field of public health Network of experts

5. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006 Criteria for inclusion of documents Relevance and usefulness to policy makers in European region Selected publications of global focus but relevant for European region’s health profile and context Documents released after year 2000 (with some exceptions) Excluded: meeting reports, press release and information for general population

6. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006 Presentation of information Documents summarized in 50 words Direct link to document and year of publication Health topics assigned to facilitate search (based on WHO/HQ library list, comprises mainly MeSH terms) Expert lists: field of competences, contact details

7. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006 Criteria for inclusion of web sites Web sites must Be functional at all times Contain resources relevant for health policy making in European region Be regularly updated Use at least one of the WHO/EURO’s official languages (E,F,G,R) Provide free access to their abstracts, executive summaries or full text publications

8. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006 Update of HEN - sources of evidence Regularly once or twice a year Meets policy makers’ needs and current public health concerns in European region Checked against technical errors and dysfunctions (links are also tested) Check on the health topics assigned to the documents Avoid duplications

9. Workshop on VHL and HEN, Sao Paulo, 10-11 April 2006