What people say about HIFA2015
HIFA2015 members in Africa
“HIFA2015 is the best thing to happen in my life concerning my career. I have learnt so, so much from the discussions… Long live HIFA2015!”
Beatrice Muraguri, Health Information Officer, Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya
“Inspired and backed-up with the thorough discussions we had on the “Knowledge Cycle” in HIFA, I made a presentation [to the Federal Ministry of Health]… The results were simply amazing… Thanks to HIFA members who helped me formulate a clearer message through their inputs and insights on the topic.”
Ghaiath Hussein, Research Directorate, Ministry of Health, Sudan
“The HIFA2015 network is simply wonderful. I have made contacts with top brass in WHO, and funders in Canada. I have become an international and global contributor to health issues. Please join this network! Especially if you are a doctor in information starved Africa!”
Olayinka Ayankogbe, Senior Lecturer in Community Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria
“HIFA helps us to monitor and evaluate the use of health information from all corners of the world. This is a good tool to find mentors and seek second opinion on a topic or research one wants to share with others because the response is quite instant. [HIFA2015] should be strongly supported because the benefits are immense.”
Kenneth Chanda, Medical Librarian, University of Zambia
“I am pleased to inform you that I have received a Blue Trunk library from the WHO office in Nairobi, Kenya. I take this opportunity to thank the WHO for the continued support to the Kilifi library. I also extend my gratitude to HIFA2015 network for providing the platform to share ideas and to work together towards our goal of “Healthcare information for all by 2015″.
Alex Maina, Librarian, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi, Kenya
“We are proud to associate with HIFA2015 and have no hesitation in recommending it to our colleagues (and we have been doing just that) in this impoverished subregion which is in dire need of access and use of appropriate health information. Best wishes in your drive for sustainable funding for HIFA2015.”
Joseph Ana, Commissioner for Health, Cross River state, Nigeria
“Within the short few months that I have joined HIFA2015. I have received a great tutorial DVD that has taught me a great way to repair the common but very distressing vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF), a knowledge which I am going to share with the Association of Rural Surgical Practitioners of Nigeria (ARSPON)… I have become conscious that I must share my experiences with others, and look forward to learning from the vast experience of others in all parts of the continent and beyond. I always thought that my part of the world was the worst there is, but I was amazed that others had problems that made me wish I could go out there and assist!”
Shima Kaimom Gyoh, Professor of Surgery, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria
HIFA2015 members in Asia
“I wish to acknowledge the crucial role played by HIFA2015 discussions in the development of this venture [First Care Health, a new social enterprise with rural medical practitioners in India]. The idea first struck me in one of the discussion threads, and subsequently I received a lot of support and encouragement from several HIFA members.”
Meenakshi Gautham, First Care Health, Indian Institute of Technology, India
“In this era of commercial interests, a platform such as HIFA is most essential especially for people like me in the nonprofit sector, who are involved in improving the quality of life of hundreds of persons in the developing world. The network saves us cost, time, and provides us high quality scientific information. It also culls out wisdom from experiences from those who have walked the paths before us and makes it available to many. I would appeal for further funding support to this special forum to continue.”
Daisy Dhrmaraj, health and development consultant, India
“Being a member of HIFA2015 has helped to deepen my understanding of the similarities and differences in issues relating to healthcare information access around the world. This spans the ambit of training para-medical personnel to helping medical practitioners be updated with the latest medical knowledge, challenges of distance, language, costs et al. I am very glad to be a member of the HIFA2015 and I hope HIFA2015 will be able to gain the support needed to achieve the ‘Healthcare Information for All by 2015′ goal.”
Sowmya Rajasekaran, Lumbini Eye Institute, Nepal
HIFA2015 members in the Western Pacific region
“Through HIFA2015 I have found colleagues with whom we can forge potential collaborations. Even as I write, one of my students at the University of Canterbury is engaged in conducting an important exploratory research on Telehealth care in Papua New Guinea. One of main contacts in PNG was identified through HIFA2015. This is likely to develop into a good project and I think HIFA2015 should be thanked for its role as a good source of networking.”
Arin Basu, Senior Lecturer in Health Sciences, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
HIFA2015 members in the Eastern Mediterranean region
“Apart from the forum, it’s a really good idea to hold a public meeting for HIFA2015 members and I hope it will an annual event by choosing any similar large gathering of health professionals to hold such public meeting for the group. Indeed, I was actually amazed by the quality of our members and it will be good to meet some face to face.”
Hassanein Hadi, International Committee of the Red Cross, Iraq
HIFA2015 members in Europe
“Of all the hundreds of forum emails I get daily, HIFA is the only one serious enough to read through.”
Garance Upham, General Secretary, Safe Observer, Geneva, Switzerland
“The messages exchanged among HIFA2015 participants are precious for me to better understand realities on the ground in relation to my work, as well as to raise awareness of WHO publications.”
Maryvonne Grisetti, WHO Press, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
“As I travel around the world and visit health centres and schools of health professionals, I am outraged by the lack of current books and journals in a number of countries… HIFA2015 and its laudable mission to scale up health information to all health workers is timely. And that is why I decided to join the HIFA2015 campaign. I believe HIFA2015 provides a forum for pooling of our resources, experiences and best practices. Together we can improve access to health information and ‘walk the talk’ toward evidence based care for all.”
Tesfamicael Ghebrehiwet, International Council of Nurses, Geneva, Switzerland
“I am surprised and impressed by the globality of your members. I find it especially interesting reading about the experiences of those working in lower income regions such as parts of Africa. Thank you again for having included me in this informative network.”
Mayoni Ranasinghe, Health on the Net Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland
HIFA2015 members in the Americas
“It gives me great hope that so many very accomplished professionals are joining in collaboration on the important goal of improving the knowledge of health workers.”
Deborah van Dyke, Field Team Leader, Médecins sans Frontières; Founder, See-One-Do-One, USA
“I’m a huge fan of this list-serv - I find everyone’s comments truly illuminating, and they have had a large impact on our work at the Earth Institute and Millennium Villages.”
Prabhjot Dhadialla, Team Leader, Millennium Village Project’s Community Health Worker Program, Earth Institute, USA
“Observations and shared experiences from the HIFA2015 community have been enormously useful all along the way, and have added significantly to understanding on-the-ground realities and needs… So thank you to the whole HIFA2015 community for the many ways in which you are contributing to our research.”
Catherine Coleman, Editor-in-Chief, ProCor, USA
“I really think it is a great project that will benefit a lot of people around the world specially us in the developing countries. [HIFA2015] can make extraordinary dreams become possible.”
Maribel Bont, medical lecturer, Venezuela
“I want to express my honest and heartfelt thanks for the unique and comprehensive network opportunity kindly provided by your site. This networking has become an important integral part in our daily life.”
Naira Roland Matevosyan-Schwarzenberg, professor of obstetrics, USA
“The South Sudan team have been delighted by the response [from HIFA2015 members] about materials available for our resource center in Juba. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have written to me or posted a message. Every contact has been filed and as the center becomes ready and we appoint the managers, we will be contacting you, or the source that you gave us, so that we can make as much information as possible available to our clients. This has been an example, for me, of the Forum at its most productive and effective. It is really impressive that so many people took the time to respond.”
Barbara Stilwell, Capacity Project, USA
“It is incredibly exciting for me to follow this dialogue thread”
Patricia Mechael, Millennium Villages Project, USA
“I joined HIFA 2015 after the first-ever Global Health Workforce Forum in Kampala in March 2008 and have found the group unique and important for 3 reasons: (1) The exchange provides a rapid overview of timely, relevant issues articulated from a refreshingly diverse set of perspectives; (2) The threads of conversation are varied and well moderated, moving in a timely way from topic to topic; (3) I can quickly and efficiently make contact and stay in touch with an extremely diverse group of colleagues with one overarching common interest - improving health of people in the world using evidenced-based approaches. I have recommended the group to many other colleagues, particularly those involved in humanitarian health efforts, as one way to bridge our silos to shift our efforts from surviving to thriving in our personal and professional efforts. HIFA2015 and CHILD2015 combine 3 types of capital— ‘intellectual capital’ (i.e. the knowledge brought from the literature and experience) as well as bridging ’social capital’ (sharing our knowledge across disciplines and communities and continents); and ‘technologic capital’ (i.e. using the latest networking technology to encourage and efficiently handle complex internet interchanges).”
Karen Hein, Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health and (Clinical) Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA
