BioMed Central Blog

Issues in Science and Technology special issue focuses on the developing world

The Winter 2008 issue of the US National Academy of Science's publication Issues in Science and Technology focuses on the developing world, and includes the following article outlining the potential benefits of open access to the scientific and medical literature for researchers (and others) in developing countries.

Matthew J. Cockerill and Bart G.J. Knols, Open Access to Research for the Developing World

The forum section includes further commentary on the benefits of open access from Mark Grabowsky, Malaria Coordinator for the The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and from Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust.

Posted by Matthew Cockerill at 21:09    Comments (0)

 

Guest Blog - EquityEdit: Expanding Access to Biomedical Innovations

This guest blog entry is from Duncan Smith-Rohrberg Maru, an MD/PhD student at the Yale University School of
Medicine. Duncan describes the recently launched non-profit organization, EquityEdit, which aims to expand access to the research literature for authors whose first language is not English, whilst also contributing funding to health initiatives in developing countries.

EquityEdit is a new non-profit organization that capitalizes on the expanding market for high-quality technical editing to generate sustainable funding for innovations in global public health. In partnership with for-profit biomedical editing companies, we recruit and train scientists from diverse backgrounds to edit manuscripts written by researchers for whom English is a second language.  A portion of the compensation they earn is then donated to small, innovative, pro-poor global health organizations as a sustainable source of long-term financing. Additionally, in exchange for the value-added EquityEdit provides to for-profit partners in terms of public relations, personnel management, marketing, and technical innovations, its for-profit partners provide an additional donation as a percentage of the revenue from each order.  Through this means, EquityEdit improves access to biomedical innovations on two fronts: on the one hand by improving communication among scientists from non-English-speaking countries and on the other by delivering sustainable and flexible financing to healthcare organizations delivering medical and public health interventions to the global poor.

[Read More]

Posted by Matthew Cockerill at 12:38    Comments (0)

 

Health Care in Burma thematic series published by Conflict and Health

Conflict and Health has recently published a thematic series, edited by Dr. Chris Beyrer, on Health Care in Burma.

The articles in this series deal with health care and infectious diseases, particularly HIV and AIDS, in Burma/Myanmar and the effects of the increased incidence and spread of these diseases on neighbor states such as Thailand and Bangladesh.

Editorial    
Responding to infectious diseases in Burma and her border regions
Chris Beyrer, Thomas J Lee
Conflict and Health 2008, 2:2 (14 March 2008)
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]

Research    
Prevalence of plasmodium falciparum in active conflict areas of eastern Burma: a summary of cross-sectional data
Adam K Richards, Linda Smith, Luke C Mullany, Catherine I Lee, Emily Whichard, Kristin Banek, Mahn Mahn, Eh Kalu Shwe Oo, Thomas J Lee
Conflict and Health 2007, 1:9 (5 September 2007)
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] [PubMed] [Related articles]

Review    
Increase coverage of HIV and AIDS services in Myanmar
Brian Williams, Daniel Baker, Markus Buhler, Charles Petrie
Conflict and Health 2008, 2:3 (14 March 2008)
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]

Case study    
Displacement and disease: the Shan exodus and infectious disease implications for Thailand
Voravit Suwanvanichkij
Conflict and Health 2008, 2:4 (14 March 2008)
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]

Research    
An assessment of vulnerability to HIV infection of boatmen in Teknaf, Bangladesh
Rukhsana Gazi, Alec Mercer, Tanyaporn Wansom, Humayun Kabir, Nirod Chandra Saha, Tasnim Azim
Conflict and Health 2008, 2:5 (14 March 2008)
[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]
 

Millions of people around the world are caught between the vicious spiral of violent conflict and poor health. Conflict and Health focuses on the intricate relationship between conflict and health, and how health interventions in war zones may contribute to peace. Please submit your next manuscript to Conflict and Health, or register to receive regular article alerts.

Conflict and Health is overseen by Graeme MacQueen (Canada), Edward Mills (Canada) and Sonal Singh (United States), the Editors-in-Chief, and an expert Editorial Board. If you would like more information on the journal, please contact the Editorial Office.

Assistant Editor – Independent Journals

Posted by Alison Cobb at 14:27    Comments (0)

 

Human Resources for Health at the Global Forum on Human Resources for Health

Human Resources for Health Editors are currently attending the first ever Global Forum on Human Resources for Health, convened by the Global Health Workforce Alliance in Kampala, Uganda, from March 2-7, 2008.

The Forum aims to bring together government leaders, eminent health, development, civil society, academic and health professional leaders from around the world, providing a platform for sharing and exploring solutions, consensus and capacity building, further galvanizing a global movement that is emerging as a response to the increasingly pertinent human resources for health crisis. 

Members of the Human Resources for Health journal editorial team will be attending the forum and will be posting regular reports from the forum on the journal blog, including interviews with some of the presenters and participants of the forum. 

Posted by Charlotte Hubbard at 13:11    Comments (0)

 

Open access and the developing world - read the latest

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recently participated in The Berlin 5 meeting, Open Access: From Practice to Impact: Consequences of Knowledge Dissemination in Padova, Italy. Stefka Kaloyanova’s presentation acknowledged that research generated in developing countries is currently missing from the international knowledge base. Authors struggle to pay the financial fees associated with publication and have limited access to the internet. Katz suggests a number of initiatives, namely the International Information Systems for Agricultural Sciences and Technology (AGRIS) network which aims to build a common and freely accessible information system for science and technology in agriculture and related subjects. It was also recommended that open access is made mandatory in developing countries so that researchers can publish their research with ease.

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative recently introduced its mission at the Indian National Convention for Librarians. The video presentation is now live. The OLPC campaign has been gaining momentum. Mass production of computers began in November 2007 and now Acer, Everex, Gigabyte and Lenovo have also pledged to produce cheaper laptops as part of the campaign.

The Satellite 2008 conference will be taking place in Washington during February.

Michail Bletsas will be joining Thomas Jacobson and Roland Burger for a workshop at the upcoming on 27 February entitled: “Low-cost satellite Internet infrastructure to support education in remote and developing regions.” The website states that exhibits-only registration is all that is needed if you would like to join in the discussion.  

The latest issue (vol. 10, no. 1, 2008) of Medicc Review is devoted to eHealth: Cuba Faces the Digital Divide and contains several useful articles. For example,  Conner Gorry’s feature looks at the issues developing countries are faced with, such as a high incidence of disease, lack of infrastructure, resource scarcity and limited knowledge-sharing, all of which hinder population growth. Nancy Sánchez Tarragó, MSc and J. Carlos Fernández Molina, PhD present a descriptive, cross-sectional study designed to determine the level of knowledge about and the attitudes toward open access journals among Cuban health researchers. The research concluded that there is little knowledge of open access journals and other open access movement terms and initiatives, and little use of open access as a publication means among these researchers.

On the topic of Cuba, Cameron Neylon’s blog, Open Science and the developing world: Good intentions, bad implementation?, discusses his recent trip to Cuba where he talked to scientists about the conditions they work under. Neylon notes:

'One of the strong arguments for Open Science (literature access, data, methods, notebooks) is that it provides access to scientists in less priviledged countries to both peer reviewed research as well as to the details of methodology that can enable them to carry out their science. I was therefore interested to see both what was available to them and whether they viewed our efforts in this area as useful or helpful. I want to emphasise that these people were doing good science in difficult circumstances by playing to their strengths and focussing on achievable goals. This is not second rate science, just science that is limited by access to facilities, reagents, and information.'

Furthermore, there is very limited access to subscriber-only literature and primary data. As such, open access seems to be the solution for these researchers, but Neylon acknowledges this comes with a catch:

'There are many real and potential benefits for scientists in the developing world if we move to more open styles of science communication. This is great, and I think it is a good argument for more openness. However there is a serious problem with the way we present this information and our reliance on modern web tools to do it. Its a very simple problem: bandwidth.'

The In Between The Lines author looks at the issues discussed in the recent North Carolina Scientific Blogging Conference, namely open science in the developing world. In this blog, the author addresses questions about the effects of a $100 laptop, how to improve the penetration of scientific information and how people in these countries find meaningful information on the web.

Posted by Charlotte Webber at 12:05    Comments (0)

 

Parasites & Vectors; a new open access journal launched today

We are delighted to announce the launch of a new, broad-focus journal, Parasites & Vectors, overseen by Editor-in-Chief Chris Arme, who has over 19 years experience as an Editor of Parasitology, and was a Past-President of the British Society for Parasitology.  Parasites & Vectors is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal dealing with the biology of parasites, parasitic diseases, intermediate hosts and vectors.  Manuscripts addressing broader issues, for example economics, social sciences and global climate change in relation to parasites, vectors and disease control, are also welcomed.  For more information, please see the launch Editorial.

Parasites & Vectors expands upon the scope of two former BioMed Central publications, Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease and Filaria Journal, both of which ceased publication in December 2007.  Authors working in the areas covered by these journals are encouraged to submit their work to Parasites & Vectors.  The full archives of these two journals remain available from the Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease and Filaria Journal websites and PubMed Central.

David Molyneux, Editor-in-Chief of Filaria Journal, and Kevin Tyler, co-Editor-in-Chief of Kinetoplastid Biology and Disease, have been appointed to the Advisory Board of Parasites & Vectors, and together with an international Editorial Board, are working closely with Chris Arme to ensure the success of this new journal. 

Parasites & Vectors will offer an invaluable resource to the community.  To keep abreast with the latest developments of this exciting new journal, please register to receive regular alerts.  Like all journals, Parasites & Vectors will depend on your support and input to ensure it meets your needs; if you have any comments do let us know by emailing chris.arme@gmail.com.

Posted by Anna Webb at 16:45    Comments (0)

 

Open access and the developing world - read the latest

The South African Regional Universities Association (SARUA) recently held its Open Access Leadership Summit in Botswana, 20-21 November. The Minister of Education in Botswana, the Honorable J. D. Nkate, opened the event, noting:

“We recognise that the internet and associated digital technologies are creating new opportunities for developing alternative models of publishing and disseminating scholarly work. Limited access to publicly-funded scientific research resulting from the traditional models and roots of disseminating this research is no longer tenable in the African environment. There is a widening gap in research output and consumption relative to the rest of the world. Open Access approaches and models promote universal unrestricted free access to full-text scholarly materials and scientific research via the internet, which in turn accelerates knowledge transfer.

The public good requires us to remove and prevent barriers to this research and its publication. This new knowledge has to inform not only our scientists and great thinkers, it must also be a resource for all our citizenry, for rich and for poor, for decision-makers and planners, and for an informed and creative general population.”

The program is now available online.

Eve Gray attended the SARUA summit and briefly summarises the proceedings in her blog:

“Promoting Open Access for increased quality research, enhanced collaboration, and the sharing and dissemination of knowledge, is a central principle for SARUA’s work. The Association is already engaging with groups and networks of expertise and good practice locally and globally in order to support the development of Open Access benefits for HE.”

Alma Swan also attended the summit, and in her blog, OptimalScholarship, she notes that “University leaders are starting to understand the messages about the new opportunities for science and scholarship now that we have the web.”

Meanwhile, the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) in India, again, calls for open access to publicly-funded research. In a recent letter published in Indiaedunews.net, to the Prime Minister Dr. Mammohan Singh, the Chairman of the NKC, Mr Sam Pitroda, suggests that India should use the broadband internet in order to disseminate high quality educational resources on a global scale.

Among his recommendations, Pitroda suggests that all research articles published by Indian authors who receive financial assistance from the government should be available under the open access format. The government should also invest in the digitization of books and journals, which are outside copyright protection....

The United Nations Environment Program, Yale University, International Association of Scientific Technical and Medical Publishers, and over 340 international publishers and prestigious scientific societies and associations announced on November 6, 2007, recently launched the second phase of ‘Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE), providing developing countries with access to one of the world’s largest collections of environmental science research online, and for little or no cost.

The Open Society Institute-supported electronic Information For Libraries (eIFL) network has helped establish almost one hundred open access Institutional Repositories in developing and emerging countries. These repositories are now moving towards linking up with the EU DRIVER project. One of the objectives of DRIVER is to organize and build a virtual, European scale network (portal) of existing institutional repositories from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Belgium.

In the New York Times, Donald McNeil looks at a new online medical journal, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. He notes the editors’ decision to focus on neglected diseases such as visceral leishmaniasis in war-torn Somalia and a perplexing leptospirosis outbreak in Thailand. The journal, which is being funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is openly accessible to anyone and excludes ads from pharmaceutical and medical companies. The journal also allows those scientists with financial difficulties to publish their research.

The wave of low-cost laptops continues, with Everex recently launching the Zonbu notebook. It is hoped that this will encourage those living in developing countries to get online.

Posted by Charlotte Webber at 14:35    Comments (0)

 

International Breastfeeding Journal participates in the Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development

International Breastfeeding Journal has published an editorial entitled ‘Infant feeding, poverty and human development’ as part of the Council of Science Editors’ Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development.  Over 200 journals are involved in the Global Theme Issue, in which science journals throughout the world simultaneously publish articles on this topic of worldwide interest on October 22, 2007. The aim is to stimulate interest and research in poverty and human development and disseminate the results of this research as widely as possible.

International Breastfeeding Journal aims to help support and protect the health and wellbeing of all infants by publishing research relevant to breastfeeding and exploring the socio-economic factors associated with it. The editorial highlights that breastfeeding could prevent a large number of child deaths and that poverty threatens breastfeeding, both directly and indirectly, for example with the increasingly aggressive marketing behaviour of the infant formula manufacturers and the need to protect the breastfeeding rights of working women.

Please click here to read the full article.

Posted by Charlotte Hubbard at 10:14    Comments (0)

 

Open access and the developing world - read the latest

Below is a round-up of recent website items relating to the issue of open access and the developing world:

Peter Suber examines Dalindyebo Shabalala’s recent research paper which emphasizes the need for digital and internet content in developing countries in order to generate and disseminate educational knowledge.

On a related note, Shelved in the Ws blog comments on access to medical literature in developing countries and compares a number of initiatives, as well as non-digital options.

In her blog, Eve Gray summarises her recent Policy paper for the OSI International Policy Fellowship, detailing her recommendations for improving access to research in Africa. Here she argues that Open Access and collaborative approaches could bring substantially increased impact for African research, with marked cost-benefit advantages.

In another blog entry, Eve Gray elaborates on a series of case studies to be undertaken at UCT which will compare informal and formal communication patterns in research, as part of the Opening Scholarship Project.

There has also been lively debate about the mode of communication technology which is most appropriate for developing countries.

The PFSK UK Report questions the necessity of a laptop in the developing world and suggests that mobile phones would be more useful to people living in low-income countries.

In a Wall Street Journal article, the author explores the benefits of wireless Web surfing technology and what this means for developing countries, such as Bangladesh where 400,000 people use their mobile phones to access the internet.

Meanwhile, the New York Times draws attention to Rwanda’s struggle to get online.

Additionally, Intellibriefs discusses the ‘not-for-profit’ plans of companies providing software and laptops in the developing world and who benefits most from such agendas.

Finally, the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology in collaboration with The Royal Institute of Technology will host the 5th International Conference on Open Access between 14th and 16th November 2007 in Bagamoyo, Tanzania. The focus of this conference will be ‘How Societies Benefit From Open Access to ICT’.

Posted by Charlotte Webber at 15:35    Comments (2)

 

Berlin 5 and Developing Countries - what's new for developing countries?

In the latest of BioMed Central's occasional series of guest blog items, Barbara Kirsop of the Electronic Publishing Trust for Development reports from the 5th Berlin open access conference:

The Berlin 5 conference was the 5^th follow-up meeting since the launch of the Berlin Declaration, and a special session on the impact of Open Access (OA) on developing country science was organised by EPT Trustee Subbiah Arunachalam. I attended as a speaker, together with Dr D K Sahu from MedKnow Publications, India, and Stefka Kalayonova from FAO. The programme is available from http://www.aepic.it/conf/papers.php?cf=10 and abstracts can be found by selecting ‘papers’. Powerpoint presentations and a video webcast are to be made available later.

It should first be reported that there were excellent presentations from the EU Commission, the European Science Foundation, universities, institutes and OA organisations – all describing their activities in further promoting OA developments, both technical and policy related. It is now clear that OA is here to stay and will form, together with associated OA data, the bedrock of scholarly research information exchange in the future.  Although some of the old issues continue to be raised by newcomers to OA (and by a diminishing band of OA-deniers), the debate seems to be moving on from establishing institutional repositories and OA journals to infrastructure support for repositories, usage statistics of OA journals, research into improved search and analysis tools and the importance of OA data to aid the discovery of new scientific information. This is excellent news for developing countries who at last see a light at the end of the tunnel for levelling the playing field.

Continue reading for detailed figures demonstrating  the growing importance of open access for developing countries

[Read More]

Posted by Matthew Cockerill at 13:43    Comments (0)

 

Forthcoming special issue: "Towards a scaling-up of training and education for health workers"

The WHO and Human Resources for Health are leading an international, joint special issue with 17 other journals, entitled, "Towards a scaling-up of training and education for health workers".

There is currently a global shortage of health workers, which in turn is impacting on the effective operation of health systems, and interfering with efforts to achieve international development goals. The health workforce crisis in developing countries derives both from inadequate educational opportunities, and a lack of relevance of training to community health care practice. The special issue aims to address the critical need for a skilled, sustainable health workforce in the developing world.

If you are interested in contributing to this special issue, please click here for further details. Manuscripts proposals are due by 15 September 2007 and should be submitted by e-mail to hrhspecial@who.int.

Posted by Charlotte Hubbard at 14:04    Comments (0)