WHOのHINARIプロジェクト: 途上国への電子ジャーナル提供

抄録

This article reviews the current status and challenges of the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI). HINARI, a programme administered by the World Health Organization (WHO), has contributed toward reducing the health information gap between rich and poor countries by providing not-for-profit institutions in developing countries with free or very low-cost online access to major biomedical journals. HINARI was launched in January 2002, shortly after WHO and 6 major publishers realized that the development of information technology presented an opportunity to address the problem of information gaps. Since then, the programme was successfully expanded in November 2005 and now includes over 3, 000 journal titles from 70 publishers. More than 1, 600 institutions have registered from 105 eligible countries (the total number of eligible countries is 113). In addition to providing access to electronic journals, capacity building and outreach are critical components of HINARI. These activities ensure that individuals at registered institutions can use HINARI effectively. The technical support of two libraries (NLM and Yale University Library) and the collaboration with AGORA, a sister programme, are also notable. However, several challenges exist. For example, proving a direct connection between improved access to online journals and concrete improvements in health care is difficult.