Innovation, Information, Evidence and Research INNOVATING AND EMPOWERING PEOPLE FOR HEALTH

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1 Innovation, Information, Evidence and Research INNOVATING AND EMPOWERING PEOPLE FOR HEALTH

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3 INTRODUCTION Central to the World Health Organization s (WHO) mandate and reform agenda are activities to expand innovation, information, evidence and research. The Cluster coordinating this work across the Organization, as well as providing strategic guidance and support, was created in Fall 2010, adding innovation to an earlier scope covering information, evidence and research. The WHO Innovation, Information, Evidence and Research (IER) Cluster comprises 10 entities: five departments, two special initiatives, one global partnership, one special programme and one specialized global centre. The Cluster was established to inform public opinion on health, collate healthrelated data and promote research and innovation. Its primary aims are to: ensure effective access to information, knowledge, products and technologies; support the innovation chain of discovery, development and delivery; emphasize equity, transparency and mutual accountability; and build an evidence base for cross-sectoral work to advance public health. The IER Cluster is led by Assistant Director-General, Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, a French national with a background in vaccine research and development. 3

4 Portfolio The Cluster s portfolio is broad and cuts across WHO. Its work comprises normative, convening and capacity-building efforts to advance: knowledge management and networks publications, guidelines, e-health health information and statistics health information systems, including civil registration international classifications social determinants of health ethics the WHO research strategy intellectual property technology transfer trade research and development financing and coordination urbanization and health research and training in tropical diseases patient safety 4

5 The Cluster serves as a resource for all of WHO as a result of its work generating and managing information and knowledge, as well as through its expertise in ethics and research. GUIDING PRINCIPLES Guiding principles for the Cluster include excellence, accountability, transparency, flexibility, purposeful collaboration, and synergy with internal and external partners. The Cluster strives to achieve programmatic and organizational excellence and to show leadership within WHO and beyond. 5

6 Innovation and empowerment Activities of the Cluster relate to the innovation and empowerment cycle. Innovation is the multi-stage management process whose purpose is the creation or improvement of products, processes, technologies or ideas to increase value and to bring positive change in efficiency and quality. Empowerment is the process of providing reliable information, knowledge, evidence and ethical standards to policy-makers, healthcare providers, consumers and researchers. 6

7 Towards a virtuous cycle: Innovation drives empowerment, and empowerment drives innovation. Ethics and equity are key considerations in the process. 7

8 One vision Innovation and empowerment are promoted in Member States to improve health, with a focus on low and middle-income countries. Two strategic objectives The IER Cluster has two strategic objectives: to catalyze innovation for health by, for example, identifying and prioritizing needs and supporting new ways of addressing them equitably and ethically, as well as through increased access to new or improved affordable health technologies, interventions and strategies; and to empower policy-makers, health-care providers and consumers, as well as researchers, through timely provision of reliable information, knowledge and evidence. Ethics and other WHO core values are emphasized in fostering synergy between innovation and empowerment, and to promote access and equity. More information can be found in the IER Strategic Plan,

9 Three key projects The Cluster is spearheading its strategy through three, five-year projects: innovation for the ageing population; implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women s and Children s Health; and a global platform on innovation and empowerment for health. The main objectives of these projects are to: 1) ensure effective access to information, knowledge, products and technologies; 2) support the innovation chain of discovery, development and delivery; and 3) lay emphasis on equity, transparency and mutual accountability. 9

10 FLAGSHIPS The Cluster is responsible for a number of flagship products and activities including the following examples: World Health Statistics is WHO s annual compilation of high quality, health-related data for its 194 Member States. It provides a comprehensive summary of the current status of national health and health systems in key areas and includes a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals. The WHO Global Health Observatory classifies, analyzes and reports mortality and other data sets across all causes of disease and injuries, including in new areas such as patient safety and within specific settings such as urban areas. The International Classification of Diseases is the international standard diagnostic classification for all general epidemiological and many health management purposes, and clinical use. It is used to classify diseases and other health problems recorded on many types of health and vital records. 10

11 The World Health Report is WHO s premier publication and expert assessment of priority areas of global health since IER is responsible for the 2012 edition which will focus on making the most out of health research; building research capacity; translating research into products, policy and action; and linking national-level research to regional and global levels to keep up with the rapidly changing global scene. The Bulletin of the World Health Organization is one of the world s leading public health journals and is ranked within the top 10 public and environmental health journals. It is a peer-reviewed monthly with a special focus on developing countries and is of interest to public health decisionmakers and researchers who require its special blend of health research, well-informed opinion and news. 11

12 The Health Metrics Network Framework and Standards for Country Health Information Systems is the universally accepted standard for guiding the collection, reporting and use of health information by developing countries and global development agencies. The Global Patients for Patient Safety Project is the only global patient empowerment network run for patients, by patients. The WHO Centre for Health Development (in Kobe, Japan) serves as a global centre for excellence on urbanization and health issues, with special focus on measuring inequities, crafting multi-sectoral policy response options, innovation and ageing solutions, and supporting urban emergency planning. The International Clinical Trials Registry Platform is the world s most complete access to information on clinical trials. The Guideline Review Committee is the clearinghouse for all WHO guidelines. 12

13 The Health InterNetwork for Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) provides free or very low cost online access to one of the world s largest collections of biomedical and health literature. More than 8500 journals and 7000 e-books (in 30 different languages) are available to over 4000 local, not-for-profit institutions in 105 developing countries. The web site on Accountability for Women s and Children s Health brings information, ideas and people together to achieve improvements in results and resources for the most vulnerable women and children in 75 high-burden countries. IER serves as a bridge between governments, medical and professional groups, civil society and the larger community to raise awareness, develop tools and facilitate improvements in health. As a generator and manager of information and knowledge, IER is also is a resource for all of WHO. Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General 13

14 Key achievements The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist is an innovative tool to improve the safety of surgical care around the world by ensuring adherence to proven standards of care. It has gone from a good idea, recognized in a pilot study, to a global standard of care, which has already saved many thousands of lives. It also shows the way forward for other checklist-based quality improvement tools. Keeping Promises, Measuring Results, the final report of the United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women s and Children s Health, was issued in The report s 10 recommendations, which are currently being implemented, address the need to improve health information systems in countries and to track resources and health expenditures for women and children. The Global Report on Research Priorities for Infectious Diseases of Poverty was launched in April It makes the case for a multidisciplinary approach to reducing the burden of infectious diseases of poverty, using three themed chapters on the environment, health systems, 14

15 and innovation and technology. The goal of the report is to help improve current research prioritization processes, guide investment strategies and enhance commitment to using research to promote global health equity. More than a dozen country-level start-up projects in Africa and Asia aim to register births, deaths and causes of death through use of innovative technologies. From these, best practices and lessons learned will be derived to scale up work in this neglected, but essential, area for improving health. Excellence is one of the most important guiding principles of IER. By this, I mean that each staff member is personally committed to the pursuit of excellence through learning and improvement of technical, managerial and leadership skills. I will also see to it that IER s programmes are rated as outstanding and deliver strong results. Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General 15

16 A final report by the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination provides recommendations aimed at increasing global financing and improving coordination of research and development of medical products for diseases principally affecting developing countries. The report was published in 2012 and is on the agenda for the 65th World Health Assembly. The Rio Political Declaration was adopted at the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health in October It expresses global political commitment for the implementation of a social determinants of health approach to reduce health inequities and to achieve other global priorities. A National ehealth Strategy Toolkit, available since February 2012, is an expert, practical guide that provides governments and stakeholders with a method for the development of a national vision, action plan and monitoring framework for ehealth which is health-care practice supported by electronic processes and communication. 16

17 WHO reform The Cluster s new strategy takes into consideration the current global public health operational context and probable future trends. It is aligned with the WHO reform agenda in terms of both management reform, focusing on performance and accountability; and programmatic focus supporting health systems strengthening, health advice for development and health security; generating evidence on health trends and determinants; and serving as a convener for health. The Cluster is committed to a high standard of measurable performance vis-à-vis its staff and targets. A number of IER entities have gone through a restructuring process during the course of and this exercise in ongoing in others. Budget The total approved budget for the Cluster for is US$ 178 million. 17

18 Innovation, Information, Evidence and Research Cluster (IER) Dr Marie-Paule Kieny, Assistant Director-General IER Strategic Plan ier/strategicplan.pdf IER Entities World Health Organization departments Ethics and Social Determinants of Health (ETH) Health Statistics and Information Systems (HSI) Knowledge Management and Sharing (KMS) Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property (PHI) Patient Safety Programme (PSP) Special initiatives Independent Expert Review Group (ierg) Technology Transfer Programme (TTI) transfer/en/index.html World Health Organization-hosted partnership Health Metrics Network (HMN) Special programme Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR) Specialized global centre WHO Kobe Centre for Health Development Contact person Should you be interested in collaborating with the IER Cluster, please contact: Mr James Pfitzer; 18

19 This publication was produced by the World Health Organization Innovation, Information, Evidence and Research Cluster. It is available at: Design and layout: Innovation and empowerment artwork: Lisa Schwarb Printing: May 2012, in Switzerland World Health Organization,

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