MIMCom, a project of the
Multilateral Initiative on Malaria and the
National Library of Medicine, was conceived by African malaria researchers in 1997 and designed and implemented by NLM in collaboration with partners in Africa, US, UK, and Europe. The mandate for Internet access to medical literature came from African scientists: "Access to e-mail and the Internet will promote rapid communication between investigators working at different sites as well as access to online literature and data available to scientists outside Africa." Having established or enhanced connectivity at 21 research sites in 12 countries, NLM's current focus is on products and databases to aid the efforts of malaria research.