As an active participant in the fast-changing open medicine landscape, Wolters Kluwer, Health has published a new report titled, “The Path to Open Medicine: Driving Global Health Equity through Medical Research.” The paper defines what open medicine means today and sets forth a vision of how all stakeholders in the space, including funders, institutions, publishers, and researchers, must collaborate to deliver on the collective benefit of medical research and ultimately advance global health equity.
The report is intended to sit within the ongoing global conversation around increased openness in scientific research, including the recent policy guidance issued by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in August 2022. This measure will ensure key research and data is shared freely and openly across the scientific and healthcare landscapes – contributing to the acceleration of scientific breakthroughs that can help save lives and equip stakeholders, from policymakers to care providers, with the information they need to drive more equitable healthcare.
A call for stakeholder collaboration in medical scholarly research
Wolters Kluwer’s new report asserts that while much progress has been accomplished towards the vision of open medicine, the necessary infrastructure, policies, and practices to truly achieve the mission that the scientific community set for itself more than 20 years ago are still not fully in place. It emphasizes that one of the main barriers is the notion that global health equity can be attained through the actions of a single category of stakeholder.
“Global health equity is a mission that carries the highest level of significance for the quality of life for people everywhere, and at Wolters Kluwer we embrace that mission fully. We regard open medicine as a key step to achieving that goal. Our leading role in medical research publishing enables us to contribute significantly to innovation, but delivering on the vision of open medicine will require collaboration across the landscape,” said Vikram Savkar, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Medicine Segment, Health Learning, Research & Practice at Wolters Kluwer, and member of the Board of Directors for The International Association for Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers. “We look forward to aligning with other key stakeholders to make collective progress on a road forward.”
A roadmap to achieving open medicine
The report charts a path towards open medicine through a rapid broadening of where medical research is conducted, with a particular focus on ensuring that funding for medical research and dissemination of research results can be distributed globally. Detailed sections outline what it will take from stakeholders to make progress toward the collective aim of research that advances global health and equitable access to the best care everywhere. The forward-looking model also factors in anticipated advancements in policy, process and technology that will be needed to make open medicine possible.
“Delivering on the promise of open medicine will require bold leadership and unprecedented collaboration among stakeholders across the scholarly publishing industry,” said Angela Cochran, Vice President of Publishing at the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Associate Editor of The Scholarly Kitchen, “The time is now for us to commit to working toward the values of open medicine for the benefit of people from all parts of the globe.”
Learn More About Wolters Kluwer’s commitment to open medicine
