The initiative is part of a response to the rapid growth of e-health services across Europe, with health-related websites - now estimated to
number over 100,000 currently
ranking among the most popular destinations
on the internet.
The standards have been developed following a pan-European consultation
involving healthcare specialists, government departments, international
organisations and website users. The over-arching principle is that websites
must state clearly their target audience and take care to "ensure that both the style and nature of the information, and its presentation, are
appropriate for the chosen audience".
The Commission has outlined six key criteria which attempt to address the quality issues particular to health-related content, as well as covering
site development and maintenance.
These are identified as: transparency and honesty; authority - requiring content providers to state their credentials; privacy and data protection; updating of information; accountability
(setting out editorial policy and addressing responsible partnerships) and accessibility.
The Commission hopes that this core set of principles will be adopted either as a European standard, or form the basis for localised schemes within Member States, for example voluntary codes of conduct, trustmarks or accreditation systems. It expects national and regional health authorities, relevant professional associations and private medical website owners to implement the criteria in a manner
"appropriate to their website and consumers."
In line with EU enlargement goals, a similar initiative is being undertaken covering health-related websites in the 10 EU candidate countries.
By Courtesy of eGov monitor

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