UpToDate Donations Program

About us

In keeping with its mission to help clinicians around the world provide the best possible patient care, Wolters Kluwer supports a global health program with the components outlined below.

Facilitating donated access

In 2019, Wolters Kluwer donated UpToDate access to over 19,000 providers in more than 136 countries, impacting the care of over 22 million patients worldwide. These physicians, medical students, trainees, nurses, midwives, and volunteers are represented in the map below.

Map of UpToDate donation recipient countries

Responding to urgent need

Wolters Kluwer continues to provide free UpToDate access and/or distribute UpToDate content in regions with urgent need following natural disasters and infectious disease outbreaks. See below for our activity in the last six years.

2015

  • Nepal – Earthquake relief
  • Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone – Ebola outbreak

2016

  • Ecuador – Earthquake relief
  • Brazil – Zika outbreak

2017

  • Puerto Rico – Hurricane relief
  • Yemen – Cholera outbreak
  • Italy – Chikungunya outbreak

2018

  • Brazil – Yellow fever outbreak
  • Kerala, India – Flood relief

2019

  • Bahamas – Hurricane relief
  • Samoa – Measles outbreak
  • New Zealand – Volcanic eruption relief

2020

  • Worldwide – COVID-19 pandemic


Developing content

View a full list of UpToDate topics created or modified for resource-limited settings here.

Conducting research

Wolters Kluwer continues to support research efforts conducted by Better Evidence (BE) at Ariadne Labs to measure the impact of evidence-based medicine (EBM) in resource-limited settings.

Additional studies are underway to evaluate the impact of UpToDate on medical education in Africa and on clinical care delivered worldwide.

UpToDate has an important role for medical education in resource-limited settings

Valtis YK, Rosenberg JD, Wachter K, et al. Better evidence: Prospective cohort study assessing the utility of an evidence-based clinical resource at the University of Rwanda. BMJ Open 2019; 9(8): e026947. (PMID 31399450)

An observational study evaluating the impact of UpToDate on medical education among 547 trainees at the University of Rwanda. Senior students viewed 1.24 topics per day (on average) and continued to use UpToDate frequently after medical school graduation. In addition, graduating class exam performance was better after introduction of UpToDate than in previous years. At baseline, 92 percent of students reported ownership of an internet-capable device, and the majority indicated frequent use of free online resources for medical education.

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Potential barriers to UpToDate use in resource-limited settings are not insurmountable

Valtis YK, Rosenberg J, Bhandari S, et al. Evidence-based medicine for all: What we can learn from a programme providing free access to an online clinical resource to health workers in resource-limited settings. BMJ Glob Health 2016; 1(1):e000041. (PMID 28588926)

An analysis of UpToDate usage logs among recipients of donated subscriptions in resource-limited settings between 2013 and 2014 (including 45 institutional subscriptions and 405 individual users). Approximately 150,000 unique sessions were logged, and regular (at least weekly) usage was observed among 61 percent of recipients. Users in Africa represented 54 percent of the total usage but comprised 41 percent of the donation recipient pool. Search patterns reflected local epidemiology; the top search in Africa was "Clinical manifestations of malaria," while the top search in Asia was "Management of hepatitis B."

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UpToDate improves clinical knowledge among health care workers in Africa

McNairy ML, Wurcel AG, Huang F, et al. Health care workers in Africa access a broad range of topics using evidence-based online medical information. Glob Public Health 2012; 7(8):823. (PMID 22621407)​

A descriptive study of UpToDate use at four hospitals in Africa – two in Rwanda (Rwinkwavu District Hospital and Kirehe Hospital), one in Malawi (Neno District Hospital), and one in South Africa (McCord Hospital). More than 100 health care workers (HCWs) received training in UpToDate use and were surveyed over a six-month study period. A broad variety of medical topics were searched. About 78 percent of HCWs reported daily or weekly UpToDate use, and 70 percent felt the tool was very useful for teaching. All users reported that the tool increased their clinical knowledge.

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