London, 19 July, 2011 – The Research4Life partners today announced two winners in the "Access to Scientific Research Literature" global case study competition on how HINARI, AGORA, and/or OARE have impacted both work and communities. Dr. Arun Neopane a pediatrician from Nepal and Mr. Mulugeta Bayisa, a physiotherapist from Ethiopia were chosen as joint winners from over 60 entries to the competition held in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of the launch of HINARI and the Research4Life programme.
The competition drew entries from more than 30 countries, and represented the broad range of institutions which have access to the HINARI, AGORA and/or OARE programmes. Multimedia and print entries came from researchers, librarians and health professionals who shared their insights on how Research4Life can benefit eligible institutions in developing countries.
Joint winner Dr. Arun Neopane of Nepal offered readers the opportunity to experience not only how Research4Life has benefited his work as a paediatrician, but also how it has supported him in his role as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Nepal Paediatric Society and General Secretary of Nepal Association of Medical Editors (NAME). "HINARI has changed the perspective of research in our country. It has saved so much of the precious time of our doctors, by making them more learned. And it has also saved many lives", states Dr. Arun Neopane, "Being a co-winner is not only important to me but also for all the medical journal editors of Nepal, the academicians who teach, the researchers, and for the medical professionals in the country as a whole."
Joint winner Mr. Mulugeta Bayisa is a physiotherapist based at the University of Gondar, College of Medicine and Health Sciences in Ethiopia. He also teaches undergraduate students in both clinical and classroom environments. Using HINARI, he co-developed an innovative therapeutic exercise programme for adults living with HIV and AIDS to improve the health related quality of life, which is now being implemented by the University Hospital. Additionally, Mr. Bayisa has used this access to the scientific literature to develop evidence-based physiotherapy management guidelines for children with obstetric brachial plexus palsy, and to develop a programme of effective spinal manipulative therapy for acute low back pain in adults. Mr. Bayisa is testimony to how an initiative such as Research4Life can change people's lives, "I can stand confident in front of people and tell them that I can make true difference with the help of Research 4Life," he states.
HINARI Programme Manager Kimberly Parker expressed her gratitude to users around the world for offering their first-hand personal experiences, as well as lessons learned through participating in one of the Research4Life programmes, "Nothing is more powerful than those images and words spoken by those that have benefited directly from the Programme," she explains, 'Their testimonies validate the importance of HINARI, as well as AGORA and OARE, and help give us valuable insight into the needs of our users and future development opportunities within the initiative itself.'
Barbara Aronson, who has been involved with Research4Life since HINARI's inception, served as part of the international jury in the competition, "It has been very touching to read the competition entries. It's wonderful to see that just about everything we hoped for and imagined in April 2000 is actually happening," she explains.
Karen Hunter, former Senior Vice President at Elsevier, a key Research4Life partner, also participated in the jury deliberations, "Many of the submissions described conditions in developing countries or examples of individual dedication that were moving and inspirational," she states, "As one of those involved in the initial discussions that resulted in HINARI, it's been a privilege to be part of the Research4Life programme."
Due to the calibre of the entries submitted from around the world, a special feature page will be developed and made available on the Research4Life website to recognize these dedicated professionals and share their experiences.
About Research4Life
Research4Life is the collective name for three public-private partnerships which seek to help achieve the UN's Millennium Development Goals by providing the developing world with access to critical scientific research. Since 2002, the three programmes, Health Access to Research (HINARI), Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) and Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE), have given researchers at more than 5,000 institutions in 105 developing world countries free or low cost access to over 7,000 journals provided by the world's leading science publishers.
Research4Life is a public-private partnership of the WHO, FAO, UNEP, Cornell and Yale Universities and the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers. Together with technology partner Microsoft, the partnership's goal is to help attain six of the UN's eight Millennium Development Goals by 2015, reducing the scientific knowledge gap between industrialized countries and the developing world. For more information visit www.research4life.org