Access controls on bmj.com

Editor—As a BMA member based in Scotland, I am not directly affected by the recent changes in access to bmj.com.¹ However, while expressing gratitude at the number of countries to which the BMJ has granted free access (including those benefiting from the charitable gesture in the wake of the tsunami), I note that the list is taken directly from the World Health Organization's Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI, www.healthinternetwork.org) project for free library resources in poor countries.

If the BMA really wished to make a difference in poor countries it needs to know which countries really are poorest—gross national product per head and gross national income per head are reasonable methods of estimating this. Would it not, therefore, make most sense to look to the data held by international or economic institutions, rather than that held by health organisations?

The World Bank might suffice as an appropriate authority on the level of poverty of individual countries. According to its data,²,³ many countries not included by HINARI ought to be classed as low income, such as India and Pakistan (with a gross national income of $530 and $460 per head, respectively).

If the BMJ wishes to continue to be seen as a caring establishment, it should perhaps rectify this oversight.