Global Health

Abstract

Charbonneau reviews CABI Publishing's Global Health database.

Global Health. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OXlO 8DE, United Kingdom; + 44.1491.832111; http:// www.cabi-publishing.org; $1,460.00 to $6,790.00 per year; institutional, corporate, and developing country subscription rates based on standalone (CD-ROM) and Internet access (four or eight users) through CAB Direct; also available through a variety of service providers including OVID, EBSCO, and DIALOG.

The Global Health database provides easy access to a wealth of international public health information and research useful for academicians, researchers, policy makers, health care professionals, and students. Global Health indexes a wide range of publications including journals, books, book chapters, patents, conference proceedings, and other reports. Global Health allows users to search the full contents of over 3,500 journals from more than 125 countries. A total of 9,500 journals are screened for relevant material by an international editorial advisory board. Abstracts and summaries are translated into English when necessary, adding considerable value to this resource (25% of the publications in the database are in languages other than English). Subject coverage includes international health, epidemiology, biostatistics, demography, and health policy.

Coverage from 1973 to the present provides access to unique content, such as the Chinese Journal of Schistosomiasis Control and the Japanese Journal of Nutrition and Dietetics, not covered by other databases. According to CABI Publishing, 40% of the information in Global Health is unique to the database. This information includes publications with limited distribution or from developing countries, making this database an excellent complement to other medical and health databases. Coverage from 1910 to 1973 is available separately in Global Health Archive, which is available in perpetuity for a single price (contact CABI Publishing for price quotes).

Major features of the searchable bibliographic database include its unique coverage, geographic scope, and subject strengths in medical entomology, human nutrition, mosquito and vector control, and medicinal plants. With a reported 50,000 records added annually, Global Health contains timely and relevant public health bibliographic information, and 95% of the records have informative abstracts.

Overall, Global Health is an important resource covering public health issues on an international scale. Available through CABI Publishing and a variety of other service providers, Global Health brings together an impressive range of searchable bibliographic information in one interface. Much of the content is not covered in other databases, making Global Health a valuable tool for users.