Getting to know other organisations is one of the most important things you can do to understand global health and Medsin. Here we've included what we feel to be a good range of websites and organisations that will give you an idea of who plays a role in global health, and what we can learn from each one.

The list obviously isn't thorough, but we felt these were some of the most important! If you want to suggest any, then just please email medsin.ucl@gmail.com.

1. The World Health Organisation: www.who.int

Good For: Everything related to Global Health!

This is first on the list for a reason! A really brilliant website for a (we think) brilliant organisation. This is very often your first port of call if you're interested in International Health. You can find detailed information on pretty much every global health issue in the world, as well as priority issues in the world today, and health information for specific countries.

"WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends."

2. The United Nations: www.un.org

Good For: Well. Things about the world, I suppose! Here you'll get a good overview of the key issues in the world.

If you are new to the world of global health, then an overview is just what you'll need! Don't get too bogged down in all the publications, but instead get a feel of what is important to world leaders today.

"It is my aspiration that health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wishes for, but as a human right to be fought for." - Kofi Annan, ex-UN Secretary General.

3. UCL Institute of Global Health: www.ucl.ac.uk/global-health

Good For: Global Health at UCL. Enough said, really.

UCL has launched a major initiative in the past year on Global Health. UCL has just defined four grand challenges of humankind and UCL, and the first and foremost is Global Health. Now really is an exciting time to get involved in global health and UCL is probably the best university in the UK if not the world to be at if this is what you're interested in.

"Avoidable and preventable death and disease are among the major challenges facing the world today. At UCL we are in an excellent position to help overcome the barriers to global health when we work together.

The solutions to achieving this reside equally in all our disciplines: from the arts and humanities, built environment, engineering and law to basic and applied biomedical sciences.

UCL has prioritised the Grand Challenge of Global Health. The UCL Institute for Global Health is the hub bringing together UCL's immense multidisciplinary wealth of intellectual capital and international collaborations to provide innovative, workable solutions to global health at scale."

4. The Lancet Global Health Network: www.thelancetglobalhealthnetwork.com

Good For: Thorough and world class sets of publications on a whole range of health issues.

Since 2003, the Lancet has begun to take an exceptional interest in Global Health:

"As a leading independent journal of global medicine, *The Lancet* is committed to advancing health for all people around the world. We publish research aimed at changing medical practice and adding informed analysis and opinion to scientific and policy debates. The aim of this site is to bring together international scientific and public health experts. The network will synthesise evidence, conduct new analyses, devise programmatic recommendations, and formulate proposals for action in international health and development."

5. Medact: www.medact.org

Good For: A more alternative view on global health on less well known (but equally important) global health issues Be SURE to have a look at their Global Health Watch 1 (2005/2006) and know that the Global Health Watch 2 has just been released in October 2008.

"Medact speaks out for countless people across the globe whose health, wellbeing and access to proper health care are severely compromised by the effects of war, poverty and environmental damage. As health professionals, we campaign and we lobby governments, international bodies and other influential organisations. We call on them to take positive action on preventing violent conflict, improving health and on raising the standards of health care worldwide."

6. Gapminder: www.gapminder.org

Good For: An extremely unique, interesting and informative way of looking at global health trends in recent history. This is a website that you will be forever glad that you came across! And just by the by, once you start playing with it as though it were a game then you know you belong in the world of Global Health!

"Gapminder is a non-profit venture promoting sustainable global development and achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals by increased use and understanding of statistics and other information about social, economic and environmental development at local, national and global levels. This software unveils the beauty of statistical time series by converting boring numbers into enjoyable, animated and interactive graphic."

7. The MSF Field Research Website: fieldresearch.msf.org/msf

Good For: Detailed literature on international health issues from a humanitarian perspective

This is first on the list for a reason! A really brilliant website for a (we think) brilliant organisation. This is very often your first port of call if you're interested in International Health. You can find detailed information on pretty much every global health issue in the world, as well as priority issues in the world today, and health information for specific countries.

"MSF is well known for its humanitarian medical work, but it has also produced important research based on its field experience with vulnerable populations. Its studies have been published in over 90 peer-reviewed journals and have often changed clinical practice and been used for humanitarian advocacy. This website archives MSF's scientific articles and makes them available *free*, with *full text*, and in an easily searchable format. *No login required.*"

last updated : october 17th 2008