About GIM
The Global Index Medicus (GIM) provides worldwide access to biomedical and public health literature produced by and within low-middle income countries. The main objective is to increase the visibility and usability of this important set of resources. The material is collated and aggregated by WHO Regional Office Libraries on a central search platform allowing retrieval of bibliographical and full text information.
The World Health Organization is the United Nations specialized agency for health. It was established on 7 April 1948. WHO’s objective, as set out in its Constitution, is the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health. Health is defined in WHO’s Constitution as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
WHO is governed by 194 Member States through the World Health Assembly. The WHO Member States are grouped into six regions with a WHO Regional Office in each region:
- Regional Office for Africa (AFRO)
- Regional Office for the Americas (AMRO – PAHO)
- Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO)
- Regional Office for Europe (EURO)
- Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO)
- Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO).
The Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information, established in Brazil in 1967 with the original name of Biblioteca Regional de Medicina (BIREME), is a specialized center of PAHO/WHO in the Area of Evidence and Intelligence for Action in Health (EIH). The objective of BIREME is to strengthen and broaden the flow of scientific and technical information in Latin America and Caribbean to support the development of health education, research, promotion and care. BIREME promotes and coordinates the networking of institutions and individuals that produce, intermediate and use health sciences information around common information products, services and events that are operated under a common model and space called Virtual Health Library.
BIREME is responsible for GIM technology platform and data harvesting/preparation.
The Virtual Health Library (VHL) is the BIREME technical cooperation model and framework for scientific and technical information. The VHL is a common and public space to converge the cooperative networks of institutions that are producers, intermediaries and users of health information. These networks produce in the VHL online collections of interoperable scientific and technical products and services.
