Mapping best practices

The WHO Reproductive Health Library

Science is cumulative. New research should be initiated on the basis of what is known, and interpretation of the findings of primary research should be made after considering existing evidence. Since 1997, the Department of Reproductive Health and Research has conducted systematic reviews on high-priority topics in maternal/perinatal health and fertility regulation to synthesize existing research findings, and has disseminated these reviews worldwide to ensure that health-care workers have access to relevant and up-to-date information. Increasingly, such reviews form the basis of normative functions.

The systematic reviews conducted or facilitated by the Department are included in The Cochrane Library, The WHO Reproductive Health Library and other journals, and efforts are made to update these reviews as and when new evidence becomes available.

About The WHO Reproductive Health Library

The WHO Reproductive Health Library (RHL) is an electronic review journal covering the field of sexual and reproductive health. It has been published annually since 1997 by the Department of Reproductive Health and Research at the World Health Organization. RHL takes the best available evidence on sexual and reproductive health from Cochrane systematic reviews and presents it as practical actions for clinicians to take to improve health outcomes, especially in developing countries.

The latest volume of RHL, No. 11, contains 137 Cochrane reviews on: sexual and reproductive health of adolescents; fertility regulation; gynaecology and related cancers; HIV and AIDS; infertility; newborn health; pregnancy and childbirth; and reproductive tract and sexually transmitted infections. In addition, for each Cochrane review there is at least one expert, peer-reviewed commentary, which includes a supplementary section entitled “Practical aspects”. RHL commentaries evaluate the findings of the Cochrane review, especially with respect to their significance for under-resourced settings. The practical aspects section present the evidence in the form of concrete actions for implementation. To help clinicians master specific details of complex interventions, RHL also includes short training videos. These and other contents make RHL one of the largest and most widely available sources of evidence-based clinical information on sexual and reproductive health for both developing and developed countries.

From the outset, RHL has been published simultaneously in English and Spanish. A Chinese version of RHL (No. 5) was started in 2005, and a French version (RHL No. 8) in 2006. In late 2007, Vietnamese joined the list of language versions of RHL (No. 8). RHL, and all its language versions, can be accessed free of charge on the Internet in all developing countries. Under an agreement between WHO and Wiley-Blackwell (copyright holders of the Cochrane systematic reviews), the full version of RHL (Cochrane reviews plus commentaries) is also available free of charge in developed countries that have national subscriptions to The Cochrane Library. In other developed countries RHL is available on the Internet without access to full Cochrane reviews contained in it.

RHL is also available on CD-ROM on subscription basis. This service is primarily for readers in developing countries who do not have access to the Internet; WHO does not disseminate RHL on CD-ROM in developed countries.

A group of six international experts in sexual and reproductive health, representing all major world regions, serve on the RHL editorial team. They guide the editorial policy of RHL, advise on the selection of Cochrane reviews for inclusion in RHL and, where relevant, help to peer-review the expert commentaries. Along with some 25 other scientists, the six international experts also serve as focal points in their respective countries for the promotion and dissemination of RHL within their respective countries or regions.