FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2004

Information and Communication Technologies Offer Next Wave of Innovation for Health Communication Programs

HCP Launches Premier Issue of Health Communication Insights

BALTIMORE — The Health Communication Partnership is pleased to introduce Health Communication Insights, a new series that explores issues related to advances in strategic health communication. The premier issue focuses on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the developing world.

ICTs offer the next wave of innovation for those implementing programs in the field, according to the report. ICTs include the Internet, the mobile Web, personal digital assistants like Palm Pilots, and short message services or "text messaging."

"Growing evidence demonstrates that ICTs can make a significant contribution to public health under the right conditions," said Andrew Maxfield, the author of Health Communication Insights: Information and Communication Technologies for the Developing World.

Maxfield notes the "digital divide" between technologies available in the West and those available in developing countries, but says despite the divide, ICTs can help health communication programs achieve their objectives "because the divide is not as simple as it may appear."

For example, Internet access in the developing world is growing not as a result of individuals buying computers and accessing the Internet via a fixed phone line. In the developing world, community access points — such as telecenters, cybercafes, and community kiosks — provide the link to the Internet for most people.

In addition to Health Communication Insights, HCP's website will also launch a discussion forum for health communication professionals to share their experiences in using ICTs in the field. They are also invited to submit their own case studies or success stories to enrich HCP's collection of ICT examples.

HCP is a global communication initiative led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs in partnership with the Academy for Educational Development, Save the Children, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. In addition to the five core partners, HCP works with leading Southern-based health communication organizations as well as global programming partners from the corporate sector, international media, academic institutions, and faith-based organizations.

For more information, please visit www.hcpartnership.org. The new issue of Health Communication Insights is available online only at www.hcpartnership.org/Publications/Insights/ICT/ICT.pdf.

HCP is supported by a five-year cooperative agreement from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).