The development of the Internet has brought hope that access to health information might one day become universal. Access to online databases gives users the opportunity to retrieve a wealth of relevant and up-to-date information. Every day, health-related books, research, and other articles are retrieved from the Internet, which has led to a worldwide information revolution.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) is very much aware that there are many areas in the world where access to the Internet is not yet a reality. In developing countries, a large proportion of the population, including health professionals, has no or only poor access to the Internet. Even printed materials, such as up-to-date books, current periodicals, and newspapers, are scarce. In this situation, professionals are obliged to rely on the knowledge acquired during their original training to care for patients, to prevent disease, and to promote health.
