Public policies on information and open access to scientific information on health and neglected diseases: an exploratory study

Abstract

The present study discusses access to scientific information on neglected diseases in the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz) with respect to the Open Access Movement. Although neglected diseases are responsible for nearly half of the disease burden in developing countries, investments into the research on these diseases are limited and fall short of what is needed to produce necessary and urgent innovations in the field of public health. The free flow of scientific information is presented as imperative to sustaining research and innovation in the field. This discussion is guided by the central role of communication in science, its social commitment and recent changes in the sector of scientific publications that demonstrate, among other things, the low international visibility of scientific production in developing countries. The Budapest Meeting of 2002 represented a significant landmark for the movement of resistance to this scenario. The research presented was based on the concept of scientific communication, emphasizing interlinked pillars of communication: legitimacy or reliability, peer review, accessibility and publicity. From theory to empirical reality, the challenge posed to researchers was to identify the obstacles to and favorable aspects for the development of a policy of open access to scientific information on neglected diseases within Fiocruz. Indications that could support or even sustain the defining parameters of a public policy toward open access to scientific information in health were sought in the literature and in empirical reality to guide the present study. The results confirm the potential for open access to such information while suggesting the importance of a movement toward awareness and critical reflection on the topic to both guide and contribute to the proposition of a public policy of open access to scientific information about health, especially concerning neglected diseases.