Trial under way of free online health information

Media Release

July 28 2004

Trial under way of free online health information

New Zealanders now have free access to a prestigious British website which provides consumers with information on health issues, the Ministry of Health announced today.

The site provides reliable, evidence-based information that explains treatments that are proven to work, as well as the risks and benefits of health treatments and interventions.

"We have decided to run this free trial until the end of the year to see how New Zealanders respond to the information," said the Health Services Manager, Deborah Woodley.

The BestTreatments website, run by the British Medical Journal, provides proven treatment advice for 60 common conditions. The Ministry of Health and the New Zealand Guidelines Group have funded free access for almost everyone browsing the web from within New Zealand, as part of a pilot programme approved to run until the end of the year.

"We hope consumers will download information from the site and use it to discuss treatment options with their families and their primary care practitioner," Ms Woodley said.

The site www.besttreatments.co.nz contains information sourced from the British Medical Journal's worldwide survey of the most up-to-date medical research, which is assessed by more than 500 of the world's leading doctors. It dispenses with medical jargon to present information usually accessible only to health practitioners in an easy-to-understand form.

"BestTreatments can help you and your doctor use the evidence from medical research to decide together which treatment options are best for you," said MsWoodley.

The free access to BestTreatments follows the success of another trial in which 200 New Zealand doctors gained access to the complementary Clinical Evidence site, with a further 1000 receiving the information in the form of a book and CD-ROM. Clinical Evidence funding has been provided by the Accident Compensation Corporation, Pharmac and the New Zealand Guidelines Group.

While information for both sites comes from the same source, the BestTreatments material is re-written and presented from the patient perspective and emphasising "quality of life" issues.

Background information