VHL News Network

Information for health promotion in face of climate changes

Information and scientific knowledge on the adverse effects to the environment and human health caused by climate changes play a crucial role to raise awareness of authorities and populations and encourage public health policies and programs. During the Health of the Americas week, promoted by the PAHO/WHO on April 7 to 14, there was a broad dissemination of information about climate changes based on the PAHO/WHO guidances. The report "Time to act: Protecting Health from Climate Change" by Mirta Roses, Director of PAHO, stood out. It was published at the Google News in the session Comments By People In The News, and emphasizes the call for concrete actions, and addresses the advance of dengue and yellow fever as consequences of climate changes
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VHL - 10th anniversary!

The Virtual Health Library (VHL) celebrates 10 years in 2008, with notable advances in management of information and scientific knowledge on health in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the south-south cooperation with other developing regions. Established in 1998 with the commitment to and calling upon for cooperative construction, its strategy, model and landmark remain contemporary and innovative. The network management of sources and flows of scientific and technical information performed by the VHL is aligned with the progression of the web, information technologies and availability of information and scientific knowledge in open access. Its social network involves over two thousand forums of producers, intermediaries and users of scientific and technical information in research, education, promotion and healthcare systems. The VHL Network has many challenges to attain its objectives, focused on strengthening of capacities, information infrastructure and learning and informed environments to enable the broadest publication and access to updated scientific information as a critical social determinant for the permanent improvement of health conditions of peoples
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GHL progresses in the Western Pacific

The WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO), with headquarters in Manila, Philippines, in cooperation with BIREME/PAHO/WHO, held a technical seminar about the methodological and technological platform of the Global Health Library (GHL). It aimed at WPRO adoption and adaptation and progressively in the countries of the region. The methodological and technological platform of the GHL was adapted from the VHL operation in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is a multilingual platform and complies with international bibliographic standards of scientific communication, record and circulation of contents. By adopting the GHL platform in the WPRO and other regions, it will be possible to expand and strengthen the convergence and global inter-operation among as the developing regions in the processes of collect, organize, publish, access and disseminate updated and with high-quality scientific information on health
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5th VHL Meeting will have active participation of national and thematic networks

The VHL5 - 5th Regional Coordination Meeting of the Virtual Health Library, will be held in September 2008, and has been organized by the BIREME/PAHO/WHO and health institutions of the network, through a series of previous online meetings between May and August 2008. The meetings will promote the active participation of the regional, national and thematic forums of the VHL network and will focus on the analysis and assessment of advances, challenges, learned lessons and recommendations for the future. This process will contribute to socialize teh current development status of the instances in the VHL network and will gather information for the presential meeting that will take palce between September 14 and 16, before the CRICS8, the most important event in scientific and technical information on health in Latin America and the Caribbean
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Mexico has a Collaborating Center for the WHO Family of International Classifications

The Centro Mexicano para la Clasificación de Enfermedades (CEMECE) becomes the 12th Collaborating Center for the Family of International Classifications of the WHO. The appointment was made by the PAHO/WHO, which also renewed the appointments of the Collaborating Centers in Brazil and the United States. There is an ongoing process in Venezuela to appoint the Collaborating Center. With these units, PAHO/WHO stresses the support to promote production and management of information and knowledge to create capacities in the decision-making processes on health by professionals and managers of health systems. Moreover, the Collaborating Centers, as basic function, assist the countries on the adequate use of international classifications
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Brazilian CSDH publishes final report

The social determinants and inequities related to health conditions of the populations encouraged the WHO to establish the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH), in March 2005. In Brazil, one year later, the National Commission (CNDSS) was established. In April 2008, the CNDSS ends its operation with a report addressing the results in the main five lines of action of the commission, including scientific information. The commission will send the recommendations to the federal government as a contribution to define intersectoral health policies and programs that interfere on social determinants. BIREME/PAHO/WHO, together with FIOCRUZ, will develop a thematic portal on the CSDH at the VHL
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