Electronic clinical information resource UpToDate, part of Wolters Kluwer Health, US, has announced that it is providing low and middle income countries (LMICs) with access to its evidence-based, physician-authored medical information resource. It had launched a two-year programme earlier this year with Brigham and Women's Global Health Equity Residency Program to explore the impact of UpToDate in LMICs. UpToDate is providing free access to medical content as well as necessary training for three participating sites in Africa.
The resource is claimed to be widely accepted by 360,000 clinicians in 147 countries, 88 percent of academic medical centres in the US and thousands of patients. With the latest move, UpToDate aims to increase the quality of clinical information that is available in resource-limited settings, where the burden of disease for treatable illnesses is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Through its work with public hospitals supported by Partners in Health in Rwanda, Malawi and Durban in South Africa, UpToDate will analyse usage, topic selection and user feedback to understand how use of the programme is affecting knowledge base and clinical practice. Based on the results, UpToDate and Global Health Delivery will implement a structured worldwide programme to provide complimentary access to more physicians in LMICs, positively impacting the quality of healthcare for patients in these areas.
UpToDate's content includes treatment recommendations based on the best medical evidence. It uses a literature-driven updating system, monitoring more than 430 journals to ensure that the most recent information and findings are incorporated into the site. Created by more than 4,000 editors, authors and peer reviewers from various medical institutions, UpToDate is consistently reviewed to guarantee reliability.
