BIREME/PAHO/WHO has enjoyed a history of partnership and technical cooperation with national institutions, such as the Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, from the Ministry of Health (ANVISA/MS) [Brazilian Health Regulation Agency] and Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) [Oswaldo Cruz Foundation], among others.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) and BIREME have been partners for many years in countless projects and products, such as the Registro Brasileiro de Ensaios Clínicos (REBEC) [Brazilian Registry of Clinical Tests], ProQualis and SciELO Livros [SciELO books]. Moreover, the Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública (ENSP) of Fiocruz represents Brazil at the PAHO/WHO Virtual Campus of Public Health. Fiocruz currently coordinates and supports 14 instances of the Virtual Health Library (VHL Fiocruz) with eleven thematic instances and two biographical ones. Besides, it contributes to the development of projects, products, services and events related to scientific and technical information and supports the Network of the Virtual Health Library in the countries of the region.
Following the long history of cooperation among the organizations, Dr Diego González and Renato Murasaki visited the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz in Rio de Janeiro, in May 2017, with two main goals. The first was related to the Instituto de Comunicação, Informação Científica e Tecnológica em Saúde (ICICT) represented by Ms. Ana Maranhão, Head of the Information Division, Fátima Martins, coordinator of the Network of Fiocruz Libraries, and Luciana Danielli, librarian. The important role played by Fiocruz at the VHL Brazil Network was emphasized at the meeting. This importance is not only with regards to the number of VHL fora under Fiocruz coordination, but also it is mainly due to the institution capability to mobilize users, information and knowledge management, scientific and technical production, human resources and infrastructure.
The second goal was related to the meeting between the Director of BIREME and the new President of Fiocruz, Dr Nísia Trindade. Dr Umberto Trigueiros, Director of ICICT and Dr Paulo Marchiori Buss, Director of the Centro de Relações Internacionais em Saúde (CRIS) were also present. Some topics for potential future projects of technical cooperation between BIREME and Fiocruz were discussed in these meetings. The President of Fiocruz expressed her interest in hosting an event at the organization to celebrate the 50th anniversary of BIREME on the second half of this year. A note on the 50th anniversary of BIREME was published on Fiocruz website.
The first agreement between ANVISA/MS and BIREME took place between 2002 and 2008, and provided the development of innovative information products and services, such as the Portal do Conhecimento [Knowledge Portal], the Comunidade Virtual em Vigilância Sanitária [Virtual Community of Health Surveillance], Legislação em Vigilância Sanitária [Legislation in Health Surveillance], Sistema de Gerenciamento Eletrônico de Bulas [Electronic Management of Medication Package Inserts] and other products on information management.
In 2016, after an interval of almost ten years, professionals from the Agency and BIREME exchanged a series of visits with the aim of resuming the dialogue towards a potential new project of technical cooperation between both organizations. In May 2017, the Director of BIREME, Dr. Diego González, together with Renato Murasaki (Manager of Information Methodologies and Technologies) visited the headquarters of the Agency where he met Dr. Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Júnior, Managing Director, members of his team and the consultant for the Technical Unit of Drugs, Technology and Research of PAHO Brazil, Natália Franco Veloso.
During this meeting, the attendees talked about the preparation of a new technical cooperation project within the scope of the Terms of Cooperation 64 (TC-64) with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO Brazil), which includes the development of an Institutional Repository and a Glossary for ANVISA. These proposals follow the same line of the activities of the Division of Knowledge, Innovation and Research of the Agency and also of BIREME strategy of strengthening the Virtual Health Library (VHL) and the Latin American Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS) Networks.