With the aim of making a diagnosis of the current situation of information management in Haiti and to identify opportunities for the collaboration of BIREME with one of the key countries for PAHO/WHO, Dr. Diego GonzĂĄlez MachĂn, Director of BIREME/PAHO/WHO, made an official visit to the country on March 27-30, 2018.
Dr. GonzĂĄlez held a meeting with the Minister of Health, Dr. Marie GrĂ©ta Roy ClĂ©ment, with the objective of exchanging and proposing actions aimed at strengthening the information component with the leadership of the Ministry of Health and calling on the participation of the five Universities that have Medical Schools. They are: the UniversitĂ© d’Ătat d’HaĂŻti, UniversitĂ© Notre Dame d’HaĂŻti, UniversitĂ© Quisqueya, UniversitĂ© LumiĂšre, and UniversitĂ© de la Fondation Aristide.
The meeting was attended by members of the ministerâs cabinet, in addition to Dr. FrĂ©dĂ©ric Barau Dejean, director of CIFAS (Centre dâInformation et de Formation en Administration de la SantĂ©, MinistĂšre de la SantĂ© Publique et de la Population â Information and Training Center for Health Administration of the Ministry of Public Health and Population) and Dr. Luis Codina, PAHO/WHO Representative in Haiti.
Continuing the mission, Dr. GonzĂĄlez and Dr. Codina held a meeting with Dr. Jean Claude Cadet, Dean of the FacultĂ© de MĂ©decine et de Pharmacie de la UniversitĂ© dâĂtat d’HaĂŻti (School of Medicine and Pharmacy, State University of Haiti). PAHO officials from Haiti and Dr. FrĂ©dĂ©ric Barau Dejean, director of CIFAS, institution that was appointed by the Minister of Health to be the focal point for health information actions, participated at the meeting. Within the framework of the meeting, the next activities to be developed towards the construction of a national Haiti Virtual Health Library were defined and will begin with a Scientific Communication Course and a practical course on Access and Use of Health Information. The courses will be taught by Dr. Lilian CalĂČ, Scientific Communication Manager, and Veronica Abdala, Manager of Information Sources, respectively. Both are BIREME employees and will focus the courses on a group of professionals that will later replicate the content.
Within the framework of the mission that is expected to take place in June of this year, the creation of a Haitian Virtual Health Library Network will be worked upon, and training will be provided for its members. This will give the possibility to start building the Haiti VHL, through which the scientific output of the country will be made visible and information search in French will be facilitated.
Both health and academic authorities expressed their satisfaction for having the collaboration of PAHO/WHO through BIREME and the country Office, with the objective of advancing on access to scientific and technical information.
Dr. Luis Codina reiterated that âthe commitment of the Organization towards the Member Countries and the priority of Haiti in our technical cooperation, in addition to the planned actions, pave the way to potentiate the exchange of experiences with other countries of the Region and the possibility of presenting all the advances made in the 10th edition of the Regional Congress on Health Sciences Information (CRICS10), to be held in SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil, on December 4 to 6â.
Finally, Dr. GonzĂĄlez held a meeting with the technical staff of the PAHO Haiti Office to disseminate BIREME, its potential, priorities, products and services. It was a good opportunity to generate a dialogue in search of joint actions.
Dr. GonzĂĄlez, in his interventions, said that âHaiti is a priority for BIREME, as it is a PAHO/WHO key countryâ. Similarly, he affirmed that âwe will work to reach the users who have access and also those who do not have access to the Internet and we will be consistent with the words of the PAHO/WHO Director not to leave anyone behindâ.