Launched at the end of August, in a flurry of bus-side advertising, promotion and publicity, it has been hard to avoid irishhealth.com in the past few weeks. However in what is an all-too-rare event in the dot.com world, the site has been well thought out, looks good, is easy to navigate and has no broken links or "this page is under construction" notices. Generally, it lives up to its promise to be a "comprehensive online source of medical and healthcare information".
The site's principal promoter is MedMedia, an Irish medical publishing company which has long-standing publishing links with bodies such as the Irish College of General Practitioners and the Irish Nurses Organisation. Considering the sheer breadth of information on the site, the time, effort and, no doubt, money spent on collating all of this must have been enormous.
With over 60 million people looking for health information online last year, the time was right to launch an Irish medical portal site to compete for internet traffic with the Voluntary Health Insurance company's site. The new entrant has 18 sections dealing with such diverse issues as child health, "embarrassing problems" and skin conditions.
Irishhealth.com has up to date details on hundreds of common conditions, all written and developed in Ireland for Irish users. Each of the several hundred articles on the site has been reviewed by their Medical Advisory Board of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals.
Unlike many websites, which are difficult to navigate once you have found them, one of the best aspects of this portal is its internal search engine. The site also has an extensive "Health in Ireland" section which gives helpful information on a range of health-related questions, from giving blood or registering a birth to the Medical Card scheme.
Speaking at the launch Dublin GP Leonard Condren said that irishhealth.com will be a powerful tool over the coming months in public health education. The site has a prominent Winter Illness Clinic which helps people to prepare for winter ailments such as colds and influenza.
The president of the Irish College of General Practitioners, John Madden, also spoke at the launch. He said that irishhealth.com "could have a major role to play in disseminating health information to the public and the medical profession should a situation like the hepatitis C crisis ever occur again".
With endorsements like these, success seems assured. Generating revenue through advertising and sponsorship, MedMedia are hopeful that irishhealth.com will be profitable within two to three years.
