VHL News Network

Event in Bangalore recommends model of open access policy

The Workshop on Electronic Publishing and Open Access, held in Bangalore, India, on November 2nd and 3rd, 2006, gathered 44 representatives of the Open Access movement (OA) from Africa, Latin America, China, United States, Europe, India and Japan. The Workshop approved a proposal to formalize OA policies for developing countries, to provide in OA the results of publicly-funded researches. The model also explains the ways and procedures that can be adopted by the authors. The event was organized by the Indian Institute of Science, Indian Academy of Sciences and M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, and coordinated by Prof. Subbaiah Arunachalam. Abel L. Packer, Director of the BIREME/PAHO/WHO, represented Latin America and the Caribbean, and highlighted the SciELO Network
read the full article

WHO supports HINARI up to 2015 and reports other eligible countries

An evaluation study on the HINARI, performed by the WHO, confirmed the importance of the program to strengthen and democratize access to scientific information, as well as to promote the advance of teaching and research in health in less developed countries. As a result, all partner publishers agreed to keep the HINARI up to 2015, binding it to the Millennium Development Goals. The agreement also includes the related programs AGORA and OARE. The number of participating publishers, scientific journals and other full-text resources has continuously increased. HINARI is currently used by over 2400 institutions in 107 countries
read the full article

Course in Buenos Aires launches free access to BIREME CISIS products

BIREME/PAHO/WHO will disseminate the CISIS system, its utility programs and applications in different versions for download as from February 2007. The initiative carries on the historical international cooperation between BIREME and UNESCO to develop the ISIS software family. The CISIS system answers the needs of networks of sources of information at VHL and SciELO, which are characterized by large volumes of records and transactions. The dissemination program started with a technical course, held from October 30 to November 1st, 2006, in Buenos Aires. It was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Production and by the Atomic Energy Commission of Argentina (CNEA), which is the official distributor of the ISIS family systems in the country. Ernesto Spinak, consultant and leader of the FIR Unit at the BIREME, was the course facilitator
read the full article

The WHO Collaborating Center Network is strengthened at the Seminar in Cuba

The Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Cuba, together with the PAHO Representative in Cuba and the WHO, held the First Workshop of the WHO Collaborating Centers and Institutions of Scientific Excellence, in Havana, from November 23 to 25, 2006. The event aimed to analyze the scientific contribution of the WHO Collaborating Centers in regards to the Millennium Development Goals from the perspective of health, of the inconclusive agenda of health priorities, as well as strengthening the South-South cooperation, promoting articulated and effective initiatives and actions among the Collaborating Centers within the regional and national heath policy context. Regina Castro, Coordinator of Scientific Communication on Health, represented the BIREME/PAHO/WHO
read the full article

LEYES VHL Network: training in Ecuador ends the 2006 programming

From November 20-23, 2006, at the Universidad Tecnológica Equinoccial, in Quito, Ecuador, Luciano Soares Duarte, supervisor of Referential Sources of Information (FIR) of the BIREME/PAHO/WHO, gave a training course on the application LEISREF for the decentralized operation of the database LEYES on health legislation. The event was coordinated together by the PAHO Representative and the Ministry of Public Health of Ecuador, the Unit for the Development of Health Policies and Systems of PAHO and the BIREME. The course was attended by representatives of Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela, and it successfully completed the training program for Spanish-speaking countries. The aim was to strengthen the national capacities in implementing and operating the LEYES network as an integral part of the network of scientific and technical sources of information of the VHL
read the full article

VHL Station Parana is opened

On November 27, 2006, in Curitiba, Parana, another VHL Station was opened in Brazil - the VHL Station Parana, adding up to 23 stations established in the country since the beginning of the program in 2005. The opening ceremony was held in the auditorium of the Secretariat of Health of the State of Parana, and attended by 50 participants, including local authorities and representatives of supporting institutions. The effort which involves the State and District Secretariats of Health in Brazil, is designed to broaden the scope, access and promotion of sources of information at the VHL and the SUS, and is headed by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the BIREME/PAHO/WHO, within the VHL context
read the full article