The British Medical Journal announces a further small step in an initiative that counteracts the effect of the unequal accumulation of capital in the richest countries - use of the internet to make knowledge capital available to the poorest countries.
This is a rather communistic perspective and can be seen in the terminology of the press release. But the British NHS was shaped by the collective health care systems set up in the Welsh mining valleys at the beginning of the last century so it does combine various economic and idological forms. A similar initiative to the BMJ's which is spreading in the global exchange of health information is to give attenders from the poorest countries reduced fees for conferences in accordance with an international economic schedule (does anyone remember which?) >>> (2) BMJ JOURNALS NOW FREE FOR THE 100 POOREST COUNTRIES (BMJ journals free to the developing world) http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/324/7334/380 BMJ specialist journals, such as Gut, Heart and Thorax, are now free online to anybody in the 100 poorest countries of the world, which between them include most of the world's population. For almost a year, the 23 journals have been free to the 50 poorest countries in the world. Extending the scheme should fuel a virtuous circle of increasing access, writes Dr Richard Smith, in this week's BMJ. The BMJ is by no means alone in providing free access to those in the developing world, but some cynics wonder if such initiatives might be an empty gesture as internet access in the developing world is limited. Yet access in the developing world is skyrocketing. Around 40 million people in India are expected to have internet access within five years, and similarly dramatic increases are expected in Nigeria. The magic of information is that increased access means more value for everybody, writes Dr Smith. A piece of information that might mean nothing to most people might lead to a deep insight in somebody. This is how science develops. And that remarkable person ? perhaps a Neils Bohr (Nobel Prize winner for physics) � is just as likely to be in the developing world as anywhere else. Contacts: Dr Richard Smith, Editor BMJ, BMA House, London, UK Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dr Joseph Ana, Editor, BMJ West Africa Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dr Glen Christo, Editor, BMJ India Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dr Anne Cockroft, Editor, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Mob Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
