9th Conference of the Association of Health Information and Libraries in Africa - AHILA

The 9th Conference of the Association of Health Information and Libraries in Africa - AHILA, was held in Mongochi, Malawi from October 25th to October 29th, 2004. The specific location was on the lovely western shore of Lake Malawi. Attendance was approximately 110 individuals from 26 countries and included health information workers, physicians and other health workers involved in informatics projects, WHO country office documentalists and interested individuals from several NGOS involved in health information projects.

The theme of the Conference was 'Health Information for Rural Communities' with the subthemes ranging from 'Harnessing ICT for Rural Communities to Health Information and Traditional/Cultural Practices' and 'Publications / Mass Media in Health Information for Rural Communities'. Each session was comprised of 4-5 papers that ranged from reports of research data to reviews of practical programs. Whether conceptual or practical, the information from all the presentations was useful and enlightening for the participants. One of the principal themes was the repackaging of Internet based health information into other formats and languages.

A two-day workshop preceded the Conference. The principal modules included HINARI training including PubMed searching skills, Health Information on the WWW, Evaluation of Health Sites on the WWW and WWW Users' Tutorials.

R. Masanjika, Chairman of the AHILA Conference Organizing Committee, was in charge of inserting the ICML9 material in the participants´ folders.

Submitted by: Lenny Rhine, Health Science Center Libraries, University of Florida, USA and Member of the ICML9 International Committee.