Quality Logos for Health Information on the Web Site of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut

In less than three months after redesigning its web site, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut has been granted two quality seals for content and presentation of its health information on the web. Since January 2006, the PEI website has been accredited to use the quality logo of afgis e.V. (aktionsforum gesundheitsinformationssystem; Action Forum Health Information System). As of 1 March 2006, the site is also entitled to use the logo of Health On the Net Foundation (HON) based in Switzerland.

The HONcode logo was placed on the institute's website during a visit by Rolf Schwanitz, non-cabinet minister at the Ministry of Health, to the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut. "I very much welcome the fact that the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut has been able to comply with the Minister of Health's call for quality and thorough health information on the internet. Indeed, it has achieved this so comprehensively that it has been able to obtain two quality logos in such a short space of time", said Schwanitz

"We are proud that we have been able to fulfil the requirements for both quality logos so efficiently. We are able to provide information to the users of our website that meets the requirements of an independent quality test. It is becoming increasingly difficult to identify those providers on the internet that offer high quality information", declared Prof. Johannes Löwer, President of the PEI.

Because of the overwhelming volume of information on the net, various organisations have been established over the past few years which apply quality and transparency criteria to help identify quality internet content more easily. One such organisation is afgis e.V. which is based in Germany and is an amalgamation of associations, companies and individuals for the promotion of quality in health information. afgis e.V. reviews information applying ten transparency criteria, and, in a second step, verifies the communication quality of the health information.

At present, the best known international organisation for the promotion of information quality is Health On the Net Foundation (HON) based in Switzerland. HON is an international, non-profit organisation and has set up a code of conduct which includes eight quality criteria. HON accreditations have been given to health information providers as long ago as 1996.

"From the onset, fulfilment of the afgis e.V. and Health On the Net Foundation criteria was one of our key objectives when drafting the contents of our new web site", said Prof. Löwer. This approach has proved to be successful, since both accreditations were granted very rapidly.

Both organisations require that any medical or health advice provided and hosted on an internet site should be given only by medically trained and qualified professionals, or at least reviewed by them before the information is published. Users are informed at a glance on how up-to-date the internet content is, since the dates of its first publication and its last update should both be displayed. In addition, contacts, references, and sources of the information must be indicated. A click on the relevant logo shows information on the requirements placed to the providers, and how they are fulfilled.

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