News Release

American College of Chest Physicians to offer developing nations free access to medical journal

ACCP joins United Nations in educating health-care professionals in low-income countries

Business Announcement

American College of Chest Physicians

The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) announced today its partnership with the United Nation's Health InterNetwork to offer developing countries complimentary online access to CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the ACCP. The ACCP joins a group of 45 top medical journal publishers in the Health InterNetwork: Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) that provides free or low-cost access to more than 2000 scientific publications for over 1000 health and research institutions in the world's poorest countries.

"Developing countries have a great need for timely and accurate medical information, yet most are unable to afford access to the information. Practicing medicine without knowledge of current medical research can lead to ineffective treatment and possibly adverse outcomes," said A. Jay Block, MD, Master FCCP, Editor-in-Chief of CHEST. "By allowing health-care professionals in developing countries access to our cardiopulmonary and critical care journal, we are giving them the knowledge to make informed decisions about health-care procedures and practices and overall patient care."

The participation of the ACCP in HINARI will allow qualifying countries and institutions online access to CHEST, the world's leading cardiopulmonary and critical care journal. CHEST offers the latest clinical investigations in the multidisciplinary specialties of chest medicine, such as pulmonology, critical care, cardiology, thoracic surgery, transplantation, sleep and breathing, and airways disease.

"Respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer have become a major burden for developing countries due to increasing tobacco use, occupational hazards, and environmental pollution," said Richard S. Irwin, MD, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. "Through HINARI, the ACCP empowers medical professionals to improve the respiratory health of their societies and embrace the concept of patient-focused care through lifelong learning and continuous quality improvement."

Led by the World Health Organization (WHO), HINARI aims to strengthen public health services by providing public health workers, researchers, and policy-makers access to high-quality, relevant, and timely health information through the Internet. Started in January 2002, the initiative is offered to 113 low or lower-middle income countries for a term of at least three years. Currently, 99 qualified countries are registered with HINARI.

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CHEST is the official peer-reviewed journal published by the ACCP. It is available online each month at http://www.chestjournal.org. ACCP represents more than 15,700 members who provide clinical respiratory, critical care, and cardiothoracic patient care in the United States and throughout the world. ACCP's mission is to promote the prevention and treatment of diseases of the chest through leadership, education, research, and communication.


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