Healthlink Worldwide

Overview

The Mekong Malaria Documentation Centre (MMDC) is a World Health Organization (WHO) and EC Regional Malaria Control Programme initiative.

The MMDC was set up in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2001 and aims to support the information needs of malaria professionals in the Mekong region, which include Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, the Laos Peoples Democratic Republic, and Yunnan, China. Its purpose is to collect and disseminate the knowledge produced in the region.

Healthlink Worldwide’s involvement
The centre is regarded as essential in the dissemination of information on malaria control and in February 2004 Healthlink Worldwide carried out a detailed needs assessment on behalf of the Malaria Consortium, UK (working for WHO). This examined the information needs of key groups and individuals working in malaria control and prevention in the region. It also looked at ways the MMDC could respond to these needs.

Approach
Healthlink Worldwide spent five days in Hanoi conducting a series of semi-structured face-to-face interviews with organisations connected to the MMDC. The interviews explored different aspects of MMDC’s resource services. Email was used to support the work and questions were sent prior to and after the interviews. Additional information was also collected in Cambodia and Laos and through desk-research conducted in London.

Outputs for the work included a detailed assessment report and recommendations to help MMDC strengthen access to information and to share knowledge of malaria and other vector-borne diseases.

Users response
The unanimous response from potential users and clients was that MMDC provided a unique service, not offered elsewhere, and their services could greatly improve the knowledge and working practices of health professionals in the region. MMDC could become a focal point for the sharing of information and learning amongst regional malaria initiatives providing a specialist information service on malaria.

Small steps to a big future
Healthlink looked into the ways the MMDC could re-define the services it offers and strengthen its relationships with other organisations in the region. By gaining both local and international support, information management systems could be improved and ideas for knowledge generation could be developed. Organisations such as the Vietnam Development Information Centre or the Asia Collaborative Training Network for Malaria are experienced in these areas and have expressed an interest in the work of MMDC; offering support and promotion to their users.

The needs assessment highlighted the enthusiasm for increasing access to digital information and the advantages of MMDC developing its searchable online database. This could provide MMDC with an opportunity to establish its identity as more than just a documentation centre and help develop a network of partners exchanging information on initiatives and projects. This would increase the sense of a shared ownership of MMDC.

The impact of MMDC is currently limited but it has huge potential. All interviewees felt the need for a centralised, trusted source of good quality information on malaria in the region.
However there is an urgent need to commit financial and human resources. This would ensure that the original efforts taken to establish the MMDC would be supported in the future.