Progress in Reproductive Health Research |
Disseminating Evidence - The WHO Reproductive Health Library
The WHO Reproductive Health Library (RHL) is the main vehicle of the Department of Reproductive Health Research for the dissemination of the evidence of systematic reviews on reproductive health. RHL, which is published in electronic format on a series of diskettes and CD-ROM, is issued annually. It is the product of the collaboration between the Department, research centres in developing countries and the Cochrane Collaboration. Indeed, it is the first specialist database project for the Cochrane Collaboration, as well as for WHO. Persons working on the systematic reviews are actively involved in the presentation and dissemination of RHL.
RHL contains systematic reviews of controlled trials on priority reproductive health topics, expert commentaries on the relevance of the findings for developing countries, and practical advice on the management of reproductive health problems. The systematic reviews come from The Cochrane Library (which is available on subscription from Update Software, Oxford, United Kingdom, and which contains systematic reviews on all areas of health care). The commentaries and practical advice are prepared by researchers from developing countries or by persons with extensive knowledge of the conditions and practice in those countries. All the information is updated annually.
Issue No. 1 was issued in 1998 and the third has recently appeared. Its aim is clear - to promote evidence-based care in the area of reproductive health by making the most reliable and up-to-date information available. The material in RHL is focused on the needs of developing countries.
The WHO Reproductive Health Library is the first specialist database project for the Cochrane Collaboration, as well as for WHO.
RHL is published in electronic format so that large amounts of information can be made available at low cost. RHL runs under the Windows operating system and its use requires no special knowledge of computers. Subscription to the WHO Reproductive Health Library is free of charge for health workers in developing countries. In developed countries, access to the library is restricted to scientists and institutions working closely with WHO or with activities in developing countries. Others may access the systematic reviews on reproductive health, and on other health topics, by subscribing to The Cochrane Library.
The Department believes that RHL will fill a serious information gap in developing countries. Most health workers in developing countries do not have easy access to the latest reliable information on effective treatments - not only because medical journals are expensive and delivery often erratic but also because few medical journals publish comprehensive systematic reviews on the effectiveness of interventions in developing countries. Such information tends to be scattered in different papers in numerous journals, making it very difficult for any one health practitioner to get a good overview of all the information on a given subject. RHL is unique in that the reviews it contains are not only comprehensive but are also prepared using a systematic methodology.
RHL has some 4500 subscribers worldwide. The basic library is in English, but the complete text of issue 2 has been translated into Spanish and the Spanish translation of issue 3 is under way. In order to make RHL as user-friendly as possible, it is being evaluated not only by the Programme itself but also by other groups. An initial evaluation was carried out, for instance, by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom and a further evaluation of its use by doctors and midwives is under way.
In spite of the vast amount of medical knowledge available, health workers do not always use treatments and procedures that are based on solid scientific evidence, according to Dr Paul Van Look, Director of WHO's Department of Reproductive Health and Research. "Health workers should strive to give the care for which there is sound scientific evidence of its worth," he says. RHL aims to assist them to do just that.