The DCPP Web Site: A Major Asset for Dissemination

The DCPP Web Site: A Major Asset for Dissemination

In just 12 months, Web users in over 150 countries—83 percent from developing countries—have visited the Disease Control Priorities Project (DCPP) Web site, www.dcp2.org, logging in nearly 535,000 times. dcp2.org is the interactive companion Web site for a landmark set of books published by the Oxford University Press in collaboration with the World Bank:

• - Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries, second edition (DCP2);
• - Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors (GBD); and
• - Priorities in Health (PIH).

These three volumes, unveiled at an April 2006 international scientific meeting in Beijing, represent a four-year effort by the Fogarty International Center of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the World Bank, the World Heath Organization, and the Population Reference Bureau, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project offers science-based evidence of cost-effective health interventions and the global burden of disease. The Web site was launched at the Beijing conference.

DCP2 and GBD build on the foundation established in 1993 with the first edition of Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries (DCP1). The messages from DCP1 resonated worldwide, even without benefit of the Internet (then just in its nascency), and led to major changes in health policy in India, Mexico, and other countries.

The Web site has increased the visibility of DCPP and sparked the uptake of the main messages faster and more broadly than any combination of hard copy distribution and event participation could in the same time period, according to Carlos Rossel, the Marketing Manager of the World Bank’s Office of the Publisher. Indications of impact from the rapid dissemination of DCP2 and GBD information via the Web are already being noted in Africa, China, and India.

By breaking down the 2,000-plus pages of technical information in DCP2 and GBD, dcp2.org offers users easy entry to DCPP information through multiple access points, and allows self-paced interactivity with the rich Web content. Users can select and download data files, create a custom book or custom PowerPoint presentation, and quickly skim topical highlights through dozens of fact sheets, press releases, feature stories, and a newsletter, all created especially for the Web. Users can subscribe to an RSS feed (a content syndication software used to publish frequently updated digital content) to have new or updated content delivered automatically to their desktop.

Analyzing Web statistics is as much art as science since there is no standard way of measuring those statistics. The DCPP site activity is measured in “sessions,” which most closely approximate the number of unique visitors to the site. The site went live on April 3, 2006, and logged 37,000 sessions during the first month. In March 2007, the number of sessions had risen to over 82,000. The average number of sessions per day rose from 1,225 in April 2006, to 2,646 in March 2007. dcp2.org users spend an average of 10 minutes on the site each time they log on. Eighty-four percent of users came directly to the Web site as opposed to linking to it through a search engine or partner link.

While the site has seen a steady increase in the amount of traffic, numbers alone do not give a complete picture of the value to users. An analysis of the types of files downloaded reveals that the fact sheets consistently comprise the largest percentage of downloads. The “Burden of Disease in China” fact sheet always ranks in the top three downloads, suggesting, perhaps, a need for more regional- and/or country-specific information products.

In the graph, one might notice the sharp increase in sessions in March 2007. On March 2, DCPP launched several upgrades to the Web site: easier navigation; new and improved tools, including a slide library and a custom presentation feature; more refined search options; improved access to translations; and site registration for frequent users. DCPP felt that these upgrades were critical in ensuring the most efficient access to the information and improving the user experience on the Web site. In the first month with the upgrades, sessions increased 53 percent.

One of the most popular features of the site is the ability to choose chapters from the full text of DCP2 and GBD, compile and organize them into a custom book complete with a personalized title page, and download the file for distribution or printing. Almost 800 custom books have been created through this free service. The custom presentation feature promises to be equally popular. Users can create a presentation using graphics from 27 DCP2 chapters in slides that include presentation notes. In just the first month, 58 custom presentations were created.

The inaugural issue of the electronic DCPP Newsletter garnered over a 10 percent “click through” rate—the percentage of people who received the newsletter and visited the DCPP Web site as a result of clicking on one of its links—over two months, suggesting a high level of interest among DCCP Web visitors. In the world of direct marketing on the Web, a 2 percent to 3 percent click through rate is considered successful.

A look at the entry points into the site shows that about 10 percent of the users initiate a visit as a result of information transmitted to them through the RSS feed. This automated system is virtually cost-free and quite effective—a heretofore undiscovered DCPP “best buy.”

By almost any measure, the DCPP Web site is well-used and well-liked. With continuing updates to content in the coming months, the site will further advance its mission to provide those persons working towards improving health in developing countries with accurate, timely, and useful tools and information.