To my colleagues, friends and MELiSA subscribers
I have been delaying this email to you in hope of bringing good news but unfortunately our time has run out for 2010. As the leaders of our profession and loyal supporters of MELiSA I now owe you an explanation.
2010 was a very difficult year for MELiSA. It started in March with some of our suppliers (who I will keep nameless for now) ‘persuaded’ us to withdraw from a sale we had made with the Eastern Cape Department of Health so as not to interfere with prior sales the publisher had there even though this was not in our contractual agreement. By the end of July we had additional sales in place and our forecast was promising. Unfortunately one of these was delayed beyond what we could afford which compromised us significantly once again... hence the journal access issues we, and you, were been experiencing. We sincerely apologise for this and as you may have noticed renewals/subscriptions to MELiSA were free from October.
I believe very strongly in the benefit of MELiSA for South Africa and have been working extremely hard to source additional funding from the corporate sector. Unfortunately many of the obvious companies we approached questioned their ROI (return on investment). Either they felt “didn’t need to market to doctors” as they had market share in this arena already or “we want to be first to market” and hence not interested or that there was no benefit to sponsoring doctors with access to MELiSA, and in so doing helping to keep MELiSA going, because and I quote, “while there is value to MELiSA there is absolutely no value-add to doctors because they wouldn’t use it. Doctors don’t read!!” One director of a large GP / allied medical group felt there was no need for reading (other than what they supplied) at all!! Scary thought indeed.
There is some truth to these sentiments. We have, after almost 3 years, over 1000 active users out of a total medical market in SA of well over 100 000 individuals (according to the HPCSA, excluding nurses and of which doctors make up around 20 000). Even when given free access through generous pharmaceutical sponsorship, only 30% of members of a particular society bothered to register with MELiSA. This is why I refer to you as the “leaders of the profession” above. Yes, there are other sources to read from but these sorts of stats are concerning!
Usage, however, has been increasing and attitudes are changing and I believe the ‘responses’ above are extremely short sighted to say the least!!
Of particular concern though is the image of our profession amongst our corporate sector peers. Once a noble profession demanding respect because of the quality of the practitioners and care offered, this is no longer the case. Doctors are viewed as only interested in what they can get for free, how much they can bill and most importantly the impression that “they don’t read”! The inference being that practitioners of medicine (across all disciplines: doctors, dentists, nursing etc.) in South Africa, in general, are not up to date in the practice of their own profession, one in which they should be expert especially when considering the consequences of inappropriate or outdated care. The impression I gleaned is that the profession has lost its credibility and respect amongst peers of other professions. This needs to change!!
The sectors we covered, just to give you an idea, include:
• Banking
• Medical aid
• Insurance
• Pharmaceutical & equipment
• Hospital groups
• NGOs
• IDC
• Venture capitalist firms
(Please note that we haven’t been to every single company in all these sectors)
I have waited till the very last minute of 2010 to see if someone would come through for us but this has not happened. I am now forced to take MELiSA off the web and put it on ice for the time being.
All is not lost yet however. There are still some companies who are considering our proposal and I am waiting for meetings with new individuals and potential funders.
MELiSA needs your support now more than ever in convincing our peers and corporate sector directors and managers that there are medical professionals, leaders, who are at the top of their game, who do care about having access to the latest literature and that companies who support us in this endeavour will see a ROI (return on investment). I need your help in convincing them of the benefit of a resource like MELiSA, something which I alone have failed to achieve. I think with your help they will come to realise this necessity.
You can do so either via email info@melisa.co.za or on our blog spot, www.melisaphon8.blogspot.com where everyone will be able to interact and view each other’s comments (good or bad), or you are welcome to make direct contact with companies if you are really passionate about MELiSA. If you have any suggestions please also send them along.
I will continue to push hard at restoring MELiSA. It really is too good and too important to lose!!
I apologise for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding and support. I look forward to e-mailing again only next time with great news.
All the best for 2011
Regards
Brian
