for Healthcare DataScience
About HIFA
“Health Information For All is an ambitious goal but it can be achieved if all stakeholders work together”
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Nigeria has had at least 5 epidemics of Cerebrospinal Meningitis with the current epidemic recording a total of 9, 646 suspected cases and 839 deaths as at 22nd April 2017. Defective health information both on the part of political office holders and the public has largely contributed to this recurrent epidemic and many of the other epidemics plaguing the country.
The concept of “Health For All in the 21st century” cannot be achieved if appropriate, adequate and timely information is not brought to the reach of both the health workers and the general public. HIFA aims to achieve this thus promoting preventive health measures, and timely health seeking behaviour.
Health Information For All (HIFA) was developed and launched by the Global Health Information Network in Mombasa, Kenya in October 2006, at the 10th Congress of the Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa. R4HDS is using its platform to promote the HIFA vision:
“A world where every person and every health worker will have access to the healthcare information they need to protect their own health and the health of others.”
HIFA is a global network of health professionals, publishers, librarians, technologists, researchers and policymakers. It is supported by over 280 health and development organizations worldwide, and currently has over 16 000 members spread across 175 countries with a-third of them in Africa. It operates on different platforms (forums):
- HIFA:
- Health Information For All. More concerned with healthcare information involving the adult population
- CHIFA:
- HIFA platform that focuses on child health and rights. Administered jointly by Global Healthcare Information Network, Internationaal child Health Group, and International Society of Social Paediatris and Child Health
- HIFA-pt:
- Portuguese version of HIFA for Portuguese-speaking countries.
- HIFA-fr:
- HIFA offered in the French language. A collaboration between the World Health Organization and Global Healthcare Information Network.
- HIFA-Zambia:
- Launched in 2011 in collaboration with the Zambia UK Health Workforce Alliance
“Help create a world where people are no longer dying for lack of knowledge.”
Join HIFA today!!!