Injustice in Access to Health Information: The Difference between Health Professionals and Patients

The role of information is undeniable in promoting public health (1-3). “Access to health information for all” was the slogan of the World Health Organization in 2004 (4). The proving of this slogan requires access to health information by beneficiaries (health professionals and patients). Access to health information by specialists as partly been achieved, but access to health information for patients and their families is considered low (5-7), which could have adverse effects. Health professionals have quick and easy access to information through libraries and medical information centers, participation in seminars, exchange of scientific information with other professionals, as well as identifying ways to effectively access to health information, but patients and their families do not have access to such facilities and capabilities. Therefore, patients and their families are faced with a phenomenon known as “inequity in access to health information” and the continuation of the injustice leads to health information poverty. Thus, the main question now is what we should do? It seems that the government needs to develop a national policy in the field of health information and it is the most important step. In the next step, the government should expand the concept production via using potentials of different organizations like public media (TV and Radio), health ministry and press and increase the access of patients to health information in the easy language (level of health information between health professionals and patients is different).