Information and communication technologies and health in low income countries: the potential and the constraints
01 Jan 2001-Bulletin of The World Health Organization (World Health Organization)-Vol. 79, Iss: 9, pp 850-855
TL;DR: The potential offered by technological progress in the information and communication technologies (ICTs) industries for the health sector in developing countries is outlined, some examples of positive experiences in India are presented, and the difficulties in achieving this potential are considered.
Abstract: This paper outlines the potential offered by technological progress in the information and communication technologies (ICTs) industries for the health sector in developing countries, presents some examples of positive experiences in India, and considers the difficulties in achieving this potential. The development of ICTs can bring about improvements in health in developing countries in at least three ways: as an instrument for continuing education they enable health workers to be informed of and trained in advances in knowledge; they can improve the delivery of health and disaster management services to poor and remote locations; and they can increase the transparency and efficiency of governance, which should, in turn, improve the availability and delivery of publicly provided health services. These potential benefits of ICTs do not necessarily require all the final beneficiaries to be reached directly, thus the cost of a given quantum of effect is reduced. Some current experiments in India, such as the use of Personal Digital Assistants by rural health workers in Rajasthan, the disaster management project in Maharashtra and the computerized village offices in Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry, suggest creative ways of using ICTs to improve the health conditions of local people. However, the basic difficulties encountered in using ICTs for such purposes are: an inadequate physical infrastructure; insufficient access by the majority of the population to the hardware; and a lack of the requisite skills for using them. We highlight the substantial cost involved in providing wider access, and the problem of resource allocation in poor countries where basic infrastructure for health and education is still lacking. Educating health professionals in the possible uses of ICTs, and providing them with access and "connectivity", would in turn spread the benefits to a much wider set of final beneficiaries and might help reduce the digital divide.
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01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: While the Heidelberg conference was focusing primarily on the status of health care in highly industrialized nations, an overview of the situation in developing countries will be added as well.
Abstract: In April 2002, the Working Group on Health Information Systems of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA WG 10/HIS) held a Working Conference in Heidelberg, Germany, where international experts discussed the problems, challenges, and solutions currently confronting the development and deployment of healthcare information systems worldwide [1,2]. The perspective outlined in this chapter will comprise an overview of the results elaborated during this conference. While the Heidelberg conference was focusing primarily on the status of health care in highly industrialized nations, an overview of the situation in developing countries will be added as well.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a database that subsidizes studies on medical occurrences aboard aircraft operating in Brazilian airspace, along with the referral hospitals near these airports, and the most pivotal medical events aboard aircraft have been identified.
Abstract: The increase in the number of passengers carried per year – due to the growing demand for air services – results in a rise in the cases of medical incidents on board aircraft. For this reason, the introduction of second-opinion systems at a distance is increasingly important in conducting these events. Given the aforementioned context, this study aims to develop a database that subsidizes studies on medical occurrences aboard aircraft operating in Brazilian airspace. To that end, the airports used by Brazilian airlines, along with the referral hospitals near these airports, have been mapped, and the most pivotal medical events aboard aircraft have been identified. By these means, this work intends to better outline the reality of airlines in regards to their medical care on board. ************************************************** Desenvolvimento de Banco de Dados para Estudo Sobre Ocorrencias Medicas no Espaco Aereo Brasileiro RESUMO: O aumento do numero de passageiros transportados ao ano, devido a crescente demanda por servicos aereos, resulta em uma ampliacao das ocorrencias medicas a bordo de aeronaves. Por esta razao, a importância da implantacao de sistemas de segunda-opiniao a distância sao cada vez mais relevantes na conducao desses eventos. Dado o contexto apresentado, este estudo tem o objetivo de desenvolver um banco de dados que subsidie estudos sobre ocorrencias medicas a bordo de aeronaves que operam no espaco aereo brasileiro. Para tanto, foram mapeados os aeroportos utilizados pelas companhias aereas brasileiras junto aos hospitais de referencia proximos a estes aeroportos e identificadas as principais ocorrencias medicas a bordo. Dessa forma, pretende-se melhor definir a realidade das companhias aereas quanto ao atendimento de ocorrencias medicas a bordo. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: telessaude; aviacao; banco de dados; voos comerciais; ocorrencias a bordo.
TL;DR: In this article , the authors explored how ongoing (i.e., incomplete) national level reforms in health information management (HIM) shape the normalisation of electronic medical records (EMRs) in Philippine rural health work.
Abstract: By drawing perspectives from the multi-level perspectives in sociotechnical transition and the normalisation process theory, this article explores how ongoing (i.e., incomplete) national level reforms in health information management (HIM) shape the normalisation of electronic medical records (EMRs) in Philippine rural health work. Based on document review, interviews, and observations, we argue that an ongoing HIM regime transition—transitioning from paper-based to an electronic HIM regime—may exert ambivalent institutional pressures on health workers through their institutions’ implementation context. The ambivalence of the implementation context—one that accommodates both EMR and paper-based medical records—offers conflicting social, cognitive, and material resources for normalising EMRs. In such a context, we find that health workers performed selective participation and partial implementation in normalising EMRs in their routine healthcare work. In selective participation, select health workers—often, the technologically savvy—could actively participate in the EMR implementation while others focused on their clinical work. At the same time, since only a few could use the EMR in routine work, EMRs were implemented partially in particular instances where it is deemed more valuable and applicable. We emphasised in this article how complementing the idea of normalisation with sociotechnical transition may reveal the emergence of pressures from various institutions and stakeholders that advances (or impede) the normalisation of healthcare innovations.
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: In this article, o aumento do numero de passageiros transportados ao ano, devido a crescente demanda por servicos aereos, resulta em uma ampliacao das ocorrencias medicas a bordo de aeronaves.
Abstract: RESUMO: O aumento do numero de passageiros transportados ao ano, devido a crescente demanda por servicos aereos, resulta em uma ampliacao das ocorrencias medicas a bordo de aeronaves. Por esta razao, a importância da implantacao de sistemas de segunda-opiniao a distância sao cada vez mais relevantes na conducao desses eventos. Dado o contexto apresentado, este estudo tem o objetivo de desenvolver um banco de dados que subsidie estudos sobre ocorrencias medicas a bordo de aeronaves que operam no espaco aereo brasileiro. Para tanto, foram mapeados os aeroportos utilizados pelas companhias aereas brasileiras junto aos hospitais de referencia proximos a estes aeroportos e identificadas as principais ocorrencias medicas a bordo. Dessa forma, pretende-se melhor definir a realidade das companhias aereas quanto ao atendimento de ocorrencias medicas a bordo. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: telessaude; aviacao; banco de dados; voos comerciais; ocorrencias a bordo.
References
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Book•
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The Public Report of Basic Education in India presents a comprehensive evaluation of the educational system in India with an extensive survey of 200 villages in five states.
Abstract: The Public Report of Basic Education in India presents a comprehensive evaluation of the educational system in India. Based on an extensive survey of 200 villages in five states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan, the report gives a voice to thousands of parents, teachers, and children.
439 citations
TL;DR: This is a fascinating collection of essays exploring "why some people are healthy and others not," from a variety of disciplines and theoretical perspectives that challenges the widespread belief that health care is the most important determinant of health and argues for a more comprehensive and coherent understanding of the determinants of health.
Abstract: This is a fascinating collection of essays exploring \"why some people are healthy and others not,\" from a variety of disciplines and theoretical perspectives. It represents the efforts of a group of researchers from diverse backgrounds who have met intermittently over the last five years as part of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Their common focus was to understand the determinants of a population's health. The book's point of departure is that \"factors in the social environment, external to the health care system, exert a major and potentially modifiable influence on the health of populations through biological channels that are just now beginning to be understood.\" (p. 23) Via this observation, the volume challenges the widespread belief that health care is the most important determinant of health and argues for a more comprehensive and coherent understanding of the determinants of health. This thesis is lucidly presented in the introductory chapter. Evans brings together findings from a number of studies that provoke fundamental questions about our understanding of health.
359 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, composite solar cells of improved efficiency comprise two cells of different characteristics arranged in optical series but electrically insulated from each other, each cell is of larger crystal grain size than its substrate, which grain size is achieved by growing the cell semiconductor on a molten intermediate rheotaxy layer of a suitable semi-conductor which solidifies at a temperature below the melting temperature of the solar cell.
Abstract: Composite solar cells of improved efficiency comprise two cells of different characteristics arranged in optical series but electrically insulated from each other. Preferably, each cell is of larger crystal grain size than its substrate, which grain size is achieved by growing the cell semi-conductor on a molten intermediate rheotaxy layer of a suitable semi-conductor which solidifies at a temperature below the melting temperature of the solar cell semi-conductor. The substrate and the intermediate rheotaxy layer of the overlying cell are transparent to that fraction of sunlight which is utilized by the underlying cell. Various configurations of overlying and underlying cells are disclosed.
299 citations
Book•
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this paper, the successful use of information and communication technology (ICT) in rural development is discussed, and sixteen case studies are presented, which spell out the various applications of ICT that have made a difference in the delivery of services or products in rural India.
Abstract: This book documents the successful use of information and communication technology (ICT) in rural development. The book begins with an introductory chapter that traces the history of ICT use in rural India, examines some of the problems that have afflicted the implementation of rural development programmes, at the same time showing how ICT applications could help overcome them, assesses the early efforts in ICT use, and proposes a scheme by which to classify ICT applications. Written by administrators who lead projects in their areas, sixteen case studies follow, which spell out the various applications of ICT that have made a difference in the delivery of services or products in rural India. Among the services covered are health care, milk distribution, disaster management, postal services, telephones, and services for the disabled. These applications of ICT cover the use of simple and inexpensive technologies at one end, and sophisticated satellite-based communication at the other. An important collection that delineates the main elements of a strategy that can be used by governmental agencies to derive maximum developmental impact from investments in ICT
85 citations