Repositório BVS

The Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR) of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) repeatedly has recommended that the Organization's technical cooperation regarding research should follow four principal strategic orientations 1) preparation and implementation of a widely participatory research regional agenda; 2) promotion of training and exchange of researchers among the countries of the Region; 3) reduction of the inequalities among these countries with respect to their capacity to generate and access health information and knowledge; and 4) promotion of a greater utilization of scientific information in the decision-making process in health. The cooperation strategy known as DECIDES comes into being based on these recommendations and taking advantage of the implementation of the Virtual Health Library. DECIDES is a technical cooperation strategy promoted by PAHO's Research Coordination. Taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the new communication and information technologies, it has the fundamental purpose of expanding the various social actors' participation in the production, dissemination, and utilization of the required information, so that they may take-on a proactive attitude in attaining individual and collective health. DECIDES seeks to contribute to reducing the inequities in health in three dimensions risks, care, and the distribution of power and knowledge by promoting activities in three areas Science, Services, and the Community. DECIDES settles itself on two basic assumptions • An ample access to scientific and technical information is a necessary condition for attaining the right to health; • The new technologies of information and communication make it possible to promote interactions between various actors (researchers, health professionals, managers and the general public) for the development and exchange of knowledge and information, thus facilitating a broader participation in the decisions about health and research policies and programs.