La Biblioteca Virtual en Equidad, Salud y Desarrollo Humano The Virtual Library in Equity, Health, and Human Development

• Main Author: América Valdés
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2002
• Subjects: equidad en salud; BIREME; desarrollo; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/138040fb1c4f4d70994d490741c6c014

This article attempts to describe the rationale that has led to the development of information sources dealing with equity, health, and human development in countries of Latin America and the Caribbean within the context of the Virtual Health Library (Biblioteca Virtual en Salud, BVS). Such information sources include the scientific literature, databases in printed and electronic format, institutional directories and lists of specialists, lists of events and courses, distance education programs, specialty journals and bulletins, as well as other means of disseminating health information. The pages that follow deal with the development of a Virtual Library in Equity, Health, and Human Development, an effort rooted in the conviction that decision-making and policy geared toward achieving greater equity in health must, of necessity, be based on coherent, well-organized, and readily accessible first-rate scientific information. Information is useless unless it is converted into knowledge that benefits society. The Virtual Library in Equity, Health, and Human Development is a coordinated effort to develop a decentralized regional network of scientific information sources, with strict quality control, from which public officials can draw data and practical examples that can help them set health and development policies geared toward achieving greater equity for all.