Press release extension McMaster-PAHO agreement

Extension of the Memorandum of Understanding between McMaster University and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO)

From Left to Right: Adalberto Tardelli (PAHO), Luis Gabriel Cuervo (PAHO), John Lavis (McMaster), Mirta Roses-Periago (PAHO Director), Patrick Dean (McMaster University, President), Susan Denburg (McMaster), RubĂŠn Torres (PAHO), Holger Schunemann (McMaster)

January 17, 2013 - McMaster University and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) have strengthened their ties with the renewal of a memorandum governing collaborations related to strengthening knowledge translation for public health and health equity at the global level.

The memorandum outlines the continuation and expansion of efforts aimed at advancing PAHO’s Policy on Research for Health by strengthening capacities and technical cooperation in knowledge translation throughout the Americas for the next three years, advancing this evolving field of knowledge.

Under the leadership of John Lavis, director of the McMaster Health Forum, and Holger Schunemann, chair of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, activities such as organizing international dialogues about pressing health challenges, preparing and supporting the implementation of PAHO guidance documents, organizing skills-building activities to support knowledge translation in public health, integrating research databases to provide enhanced access to evidence on public health, and collaboration in the development and dissemination of publications relevant to knowledge translation in public health, will be furthered during the term of the agreement. At PAHO the overall coordination is led by the advisors on Research Page 1 of 2

Extension of the Memorandum of Understanding between McMaster University and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Promotion and Development in the Health Systems Strengthening Area, and the Latin American and Caribbean Centre on Health Sciences Information (known by the acronym BIREME), from the Knowledge Management and Communications Area.

The renewed memorandum follows the completion of the initial three-year agreement that fostered increased interaction and a stronger working relationship between McMaster University and PAHO, the regional office for the Americas of the World Health Organization. PAHO has more than 110 years of experience in working to improve the health and living standards of both developed and developing nations in the Americas.

One of the key initiatives that resulted through the working relationship between PAHO and the McMaster Health Forum is the integration of the Health Systems Evidence database (HSE) with PAHO’s Virtual Health Library, which is maintained by BIREME. BIREME is in the final stages of making it possible for users of its soon-to-be-launched Evidence-Informed Policy Networks (EVIPNet) Virtual Health Library (VHL) to access the more than 5,000 documents included in HSE, the world’s most comprehensive access point for evidence to support policymakers, stakeholders and researchers who are interested in strengthening health systems and getting cost-effective programs, services and drugs to those who need them. Additional documents, including syntheses of research, economic evaluations, and descriptions of health systems and health system reforms, are added to HSE monthly.

The addition of records from HSE will bolster the EVIPNet VHL and allow its users to input terms in Portuguese and Spanish to search for relevant evidence in HSE. To access the VHL, click here. For more information on the Forum’s ongoing work with PAHO, click here. A webinar dedicated to Health Systems Evidence is available here.

-- End -Note prepared by Sue Johnston, Luis Gabriel Cuervo. Photo by Julia Olesiak

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