Note the supportive mention for health information from the IFLA
President

Bruce Madge
Assistant Director - Patient Advice and Liaison Service
National Patient Safety Agency
4-8 Maple Street
London W1T 5HD
United Kingdom
 
Tel: 020 7927 9533
Fax: 020 7927 9501
Mobile: 07967 696636
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
website: www.npsa.nhs.uk
 
 

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-----Original Message-----
From: Josche Neven [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: 10 December 2003 14:10
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: LIBRARIANS STATE SUMMIT *ONLY THE BEGINNING*

For immediate release

Date: 10 December 2003


LIBRARIANS STATE SUMMIT 'ONLY THE BEGINNING' 

'The World Summit on the Information Society is only the beginning of a
process to make sure that people across the globe have the information
they need for their lives, prosperity and freedom' said IFLA President
Kay Raseroka on the opening day of the Summit in Geneva.  

As leader of the global network of libraries, Kay Raseroka speaks for
more than 2.5 billion library users worldwide - more than the total
number of mobile phone users.  The International Federation of Library
Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has actively participated in the
work to draw up the draft Declaration of Principles and the Action Plan
which will be adopted during the Summit.  IFLA welcomes the principles
and the proposed actions and especially the unqualified reaffirmation of
human rights, including the right to freedom of expression and
information, which has been secured with such difficulty during the
preparatory process.

However, IFLA is concerned that the 2015 deadline for meeting targets
is too far away and that funding mechanisms have not yet been
identified.  We need to have a sense of urgency with closer but
realisable deadlines.  A rapid and high return on a modest investment
will be gained by building on the existing global library network.
Libraries, big and small, are found in most communities throughout the
world.  They provide community access points in which knowledgeable
staff assist and train users in their own languages.  They need to be
strengthened by the provision of affordable Internet bandwidth, low cost
or free access to high quality information, resources for training and
development, and mechanisms to stimulate the creation of local cultural
and linguistic content.  

Kay Raseroka has a sense of urgency about this program.  Drawing on her
life in Botswana and South Africa, Kay is well aware of the need for
children and young adults in the developing world to have the same
access to knowledge as those in the 'North'.  She is deeply
conscious of the health challenges faced throughout the world and
particularly of the AIDS epidemic in sub Saharan Africa:  'Without ready
access to good information, people do not how to protect themselves and
their families. The medical systems, which are under such strain, cannot
provide the best treatments so we see our people die young.  If we wait
until 2015 to ensure worldwide access to information, then another
generation will be dead. We need a five year program to strengthen
libraries, a program which can show considerable progress by the time of
the Tunis phase of the Summit.'

Ends

Further information from:

Ross Shimmon, IFLA, PO Box 95312, 2509 CH, The Hague, Netherlands
Tel: +31 70 3140884 Fax: +31 70 3834827 Email: [log in to unmask] 

Notes for editors:

IFLA is the global voice of the library and information profession.
Established in 1927, it currently has more than 1,750 members in over
150 countries. 

IFLA is an independent, international, non-governmental, not-for-profit
organization. Our aims are to promote high standards of provision and
delivery of library and information services, encourage widespread
understanding of the value of good library and information services, and
represent the interests of our members throughout the world

In pursuing these aims IFLA embraces the following core values: 
? We believe that people, communities and organizations need for their
physical, mental, democratic and economic well-being, unhindered access
to information, ideas and works of imagination 
? We believe that the provision and delivery of high quality library
and information services help guarantee that access 
? We are committed to enabling library associations and institutions
throughout the world, and their staff, to participate in the work of the
Federation regardless of geographical location 
? We support and promote the principles of freedom of access to
information ideas and works of imagination embodied in Article 19 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
? We recognize the rights of all members to engage in, and benefit
from, its activities without regard to citizenship, ethnic origin,
gender, language, political philosophy, race or religion. 

More information can be found on the IFLA website www.ifla.org