– improve evidence-based decision-making, says Bess

A HINARI Internet Resources Workshop for researchers opened on Tuesday at the Guyana Marriott Hotel with the Public Health Ministry’s Deputy Permanent Secretary, Shellon Bess describing the training as critical in the process of accelerating data collection in the health sector.

“I strongly believe that this workshop is relevant and opportune, and will accelerate the process of capturing health-related data with the view of improving evidence-based decision-making and to ensure that the right information is provided to the right person at the right time and at the right place,” Bess told the researchers.
The researchers, participating in the four-day workshop organized by Hinari (Research in Health) in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) Country Office, were drawn from the Public Health Ministry, the University of Guyana (UG) and non-governmental health organisations.
Hinari – Health Inter-Network Access to Research Initiative – was set up by WHO together with major publishers, and enables low-and-middle-income countries to gain access to one of the world’s largest collections of biomedical and health literature.

The Health Ministry’s Deputy Permanent Secretary noted that the Hinari Training is a welcome initiative, and comes at a time when the ministry is engaged in strengthening its Health Information System. She said too that for too long, health data has been collected and retrieved through manual means, resulting in the laggard pace of the dissemination of such information.

Programmes like the one offered by Hinari play important roles in the delivery of quality and efficient healthcare services.
According to Bess, training in Information Technology and Communication-based (ITC) research would not only allow for access to information but will widen the scope for information sharing among health professionals and institutions as well as local authorities and civil society.
“In the long-term, this workshop will be strategic in strengthening capacity in health research and creating a conducive research culture, thus creating a positive research environment from which all stakeholders will benefit,” the Deputy Permanent Secretary posited.

PAHO/WHO Country Office Advisor for Maternal and Child Health, Dr. Janice Woolford explained that Hinari was launched in 2002 in response to a call by former United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Managed by WHO, Hinari was launched with 1,500 journals from six major publishers. Since then, the numbers of participatory publishers, journals and other full text resources have grown continuously, Dr. Woolford said. Today, it has over 150 publishers with more than 7,000 information sources. In 2006, PAHO integrated Hinari into the regional programme.

“In Guyana, given that Hinari provides the most current information, an agreement was reached between Guyana Medical Association and PAHO/WHO to use Hinari as the main research tool,” the PAHO/WHO Advisor noted.
She said that a mission from the Knowledge Management and Communication Area of PAHO, Washington, DC in collaboration with PAHO Guyana Country Office has conducted extensive training for medical professionals here. In Guyana, UG was chosen as the focal point for Hinari.

Professor Leonard Rhine, who is among the facilitators who hail from the Librarians without Borders/Medical Library Association, USA, said it is a pleasure to be here in Guyana.
Optimistic about the training programme, he said it is being done at a strategic time, and Hinari is glad to assist. “Everyday we will give you skills and resources that you can use,” he assured, noting that hands-on exercises will be carried out during the duration of the training.