GLOBALink Unites International Tobacco-Control Landscape
by Ruben Israel, Director, GLOBALink, Geneva

When it comes to tobacco control, health professionals have several options as they seek to do their work. In attempting to locate relevant information on tobacco, they can spend countless hours and resources surfing the Internet or purchasing news clippings — and still end up missing important developments. They can also use their contacts to share views on specific problems. When they want to provide information to a wide audience, create a petition or mobilize colleagues, they can purchase services from commercial vendors. Or they can simply turn to UICC GLOBALink, the Geneva-based, worldwide online tobacco-control community, for most of their information and communication needs.

Services Powered by GLOBALink
Since 1993, GLOBALink has analysed the way tobacco-control advocates work and has evolved a series of services that make up the International Tobacco-Control Community. The real strength of GLOBALink lies in its membership: more than 5,000 carefully selected and screened tobacco-control and health care professionals, scientists, researchers, educators, lawyers, computer-scientists, policy-makers and journalists committed to reducing the incidence of tobacco-related diseases worldwide.

Headquartered at the International Union Against Cancer, GLOBALink operates as a large-scale cooperative where knowledge is the central element. Its international team is composed of staff and volunteers who are dedicated to helping others on tobacco-related and strategic issues, as well as on technical matters.

GLOBALink has also proven to be a highly reliable partner when it comes to developing new tobacco-control projects: The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health recently partnered with GLOBALink and member group the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies to develop the Global Tobacco Research Network, whose objective is to enhance tobacco-related research by promoting collaboration and partnerships, providing information, facilitating training, and sharing research tools.

A strong community spirit exists among GLOBALink members, who meet regularly at workshops and conferences. Often, members first “meet” virtually – on GLOBALink – then in person at these international gatherings. Members contribute to GLOBALink in various ways, by sharing views, answering queries and posting documents (text, graphics, audio, video).

A wide range of online services have also been developed and adapted to meet the evolving needs of the community. In addition to its 600 e-mail list-servers replicated on the members'-only Web site, GLOBALink offers:

• Community hosting, which enables members to organize their Internet communications with easy-to-use administrative tools
• Web hosting, whereby GLOBALink provides server space and Internet connectivity for more than 150 organizations’ Web sites
• World Tobacco Control Multimedia database, an online repository for tobacco-control-related materials
• BlogaLink, Web-logs dedicated to tobacco control
• Tobacco-Control Petitions, a Web site dedicated to online petitioning, an efficient way to mobilize governments for signature and ratification of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

As the tobacco industry attempts to extend its global reach and deadly foothold, organizations like GLOBALink will continue to constitute a frontline, and powerful, defense in the war on tobacco.

For more information, contact GLOBALink www.globalink.org; e-mail: hq@globalink.org; or tel: +41 22 809 18 50.