WHEN WAS NIGERIA MOVED OUT OF FREE HINARI?

Dear All,

We received the Notice below from Hinari management and wondered when Nigeria was taken out of Free HINARI?. 

Nigeria's population accounts for 2% of the World population but contributes about 10% of the global maternal and child mortality because of its weak health system. With a population of over 180 million ( expected to be the world’s third most populous country in about 20 year’s time, after India and China), Nigeria is an oil producing country but Its income per capita remains one of the lowest in the world, especially with the rapid fall in prices. Nigeria is one of those countries whose health system needs urgent strengthening but how is that possible without unfettered access to the health information and research evidence that HINARI carries?. Health institutions and libraries are amongst those under funded since the global economic down turn. And at the current exchange rate, the US$1,500 ( the fee mentioned in the Hinari notice below) amounts to about N675,000 (the National minimum wage is N18,000 per month).  HINARI will become unaffordable to most users in Nigeria, if truly HINARI has moved the country to a 'Pay list', no matter how low the fees. it is premature to take Nigeria out of the Free List, when in reality it istill amongst the 100 poorest countries in the world.

Whilst stakeholders like the Nigerian Medical Association continue to mount pressure on the Government to increase health funding and make health information more accessible and affordable, it will be a shame, if truly, HINARI has removed Nigeria from the ‘free list’.  Strengthening Nigeria's system through making health information available and affordable to practitioners, patients and carers will become very very difficult if the country has been moved to the 'pay list' of HINARI!! In the mean time, its health and development indices shall remain appallingly low.

Hinari should think again and put back Nigeria where it had been - the free hinari list!

  

As you know, access to the Research4Life programmes provides the same access to information for researchers in low- and middle-income countries as their counterparts in the rest of the world.   Research4Life, through 4 programmes (Hinari, AGORA, OARE, and/or ARDI) focused on health, food and agriculture, environment and technology, gives access to many resources. Just in the Hinari programme (for example) there are: 

  

2,910 online journals 

20,700 online books 

50 other resources including reference works and databases 

from 110 scientific, technical, medical and social science publishers 

  

The fee for access to these resources for institutions in Nigeria is US$ 1500 each year. 

This is the same as the average cost of a scientific journal at today's rates.  We estimate that the true value of the Research4Life package of content is up to US$  5 million.  Instead, Research4Life offers this package of content to institutions like yours for US$ 1500, enabling researchers, professors, students and practitioners in your institution access to the world's most current information. And the payment grants access to all the Research4Life programmes (Hinari, AGORA, OARE, and/or ARDI) further increasing the value gained.  

  

What positive impact has access to the Research4Life programmes made in the work of researchers and their institutions? 

Access to the Research4Life programmes will support and help the staff at your institution build the skills by taking this up-to-date information and putting it into action. Here are 8 stories about how access to Research4Life has made a difference: http://www.research4life.org/case-studies/stories-from-the-field/

The following testimonies are a further reflection of the value of these materials: 

  

"HINARI has changed the way we do research here. having access to information and publications is the foundation of the research that i do.  as an institution, we have  access to one other database but the scope is very limited and handling HINARI is much easier and quicker.   PLEASE PLEASE continue this programme. we would be lost without it. I've written to several editors of journals that are not available on HINARI to please consider granting access through it. I believe that the purpose of research is dispersal of information, not just to those who can afford it, but primarily to those who need it. what is the point of research that the cannot be accessed by those who can use the information?." 

  

"Access to AGORA has enabled us to initiate programs within the university and apply them on the land." 

  

"My access to OARE when I did my PhD programme did not only enable me as a person to achieve my goal but also to improve the quality of life among people where diarrhoea and coughs, among other preventable ailments, have been ravaging lives of children and many adults in a vicious disease circle." 

We encourage you to share this message and the attached information sheet with the budget administrators in your institution or other sponsors in order to support your need for paying the US$ 1500.   

For your information, you can see the Hinari list of international publishers which offer access to their content in Nigeria as part of this fee by using the dropdown box here: http://extranet.who.int/hinari/en/country_offer.php . There are similar websites for the other programmes.  

Please let us know if you need any further information about using or paying for the Research4Life programmes. ‘’ from HINARI.’’

Africa Center for Clin Gov Research & Patient Safety

@ HRI West Africa Group - HRI WA

Consultants in Clinical Governance Implementation

Publisher: Health and Medical Journals 

8 Amaku Street Housing Estate, Calabar

Cross River State, Nigeria

Phone No. +234 (0) 8063600642

Visit Website: www.hriwestafrica.com

E-mail: hriwestafrica@gmail.com