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GNU Health: Nominated Premios PortalProgramas al Software Libre

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

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Otro año más GNU Health ha sido nominado a los Premios PortalProgramas al Software Libre 2013 en la categoría de Programa Más Revolucionario !
One more year GNU Health has been nominated by Premios PortalProgramas al Software Libre 2013 in the category of Most Revolutionary Program !
Queremos agradecer a PortalProgramas esta nueva oportunidad y el gran trabajo que hacen para impulsar y sostener el Software Libre.
We would like to thank PortalProgramas for this new opportunity and for the great work they do to promote and support Free Software.
http://www.portalprogramas.com/software-libre/premios/proyecto/GNU-Health

Les recuerdo que se puede votar todos los días. Ayúdenos a entregar Salud y Educación con Software Libre !
Please remember that you can vote every day. Help us delivering Health and Education with Free Software !

GNU Health: Interfacing and Interoperability

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

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Luis Falcón of GNU Solidario will present GNU Health: Interfacing and Interoperability. 
The assigned poster number, which is used to identify it at the forum, is H.40 and presentation time is: Saturday 23rd, 13:00-14:00 during the Poster Session 1.

http://www.who.int/medical_devices/2nd_gfmd/en/index1.html
All posters will be displayed on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 November 2013.
We hope to see you in Geneva !!

2º Encuentro en Salud Pública, FI-UNER, Oro Verde.

15 Tuesday Oct 2013

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La Cátedra de Salud Pública de la Facultad de Ingeniería, el Proyecto de Extensión Tecnología para la administración de la atención de la salud y el Programa Municipio y Comunidades saludables de Oro Verde, con el AUSPICIO del Municipio de Oro Verde, organizan el 2º Encuentro en Salud Pública 17-18 de Octubre 2013, Facultad de Ingenieria -UNER – Oro Verde.
Luis Falcón, de GNU Solidario, participará el día Jueves 17 de octubre a las siguientes actividades:
14.30 a 16.30 Mesa Redonda
¿Es posible informatizar el sistema público de salud?
16.30 a 19.00 Telemedicina e Informática Médica
GNU Health: nuevos modulos para enfermedades tropicales e implementación en Jamaica.
El evento es libre y gratuito pero para participar es necesario inscribirse.
Para más información: saludpublica@bioingenieria.edu.ar

New version GNU Health 2.2.0

25 Wednesday Sep 2013

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Dear All:
I’m proud to announce the release of GNU Health version 2.2.0 !
New functionality, bug fixes and  new modules (Dengue and Diagnostic Imaging Tests ). Improvements in Surgery, appointments and patient evaluations, among others.
The development process for the next version (2.4) will focus on the upcoming Tryton 3.0.
You can download the official version from GNU
The upgrade should be straight forward, as all the upgrade scripts in Tryton and GNU Health are always included. An update=all should do it. Please report any issue you may find, either in the upgrade process or in the initial installation at health@gnu.org
Thank you for being part of the GNU Health community !
Luis Falcón

Jamaica Ministry of Health adopts GNU Health

21 Saturday Sep 2013

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“If yu waa good, yu nose affi run”
 
Welcome presentation of
 GNU Solidario Mission by the MoH

“Success requires hard work” is the meaning of this Jamaican proverb. With a bright Caribbean sun and an even brighter welcoming crew, GNU Health unshipped in a new bay this week. In cooperation with the Ministry of Health (MoH), a group mission of GNU Solidario visited Jamaica and inaugurated officially the project of deploying GNU Health within their Public Health Care system. 
The mission is in the context of the agreement signed between Jamaica Ministry of Health and GNU Solidario, to cooperate in the implementation of GNU Health, the Free Health and Hospital Information System in this country.

This step is a tipping point in health history, granted that Jamaica is the first country to embrace GNU Health nationwide. A herculean task, this implementation is demanding cross-sectoral integrations from all the regions of this country. Hence, not only the permanent secretary of the MoH, Dr. Jean Dixon, vouched for this undertaking, but Mr. Gary Campbell (Director, ICT; Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining) also extended his blessing while announcing the GOJ FOSS Migration project and how it will cooperate with the GNU Health enterprise as well.


Programmers, system administrators, physicians, nurses, health records staff, as well as other public officials gathered to participate in several meetings, workshops and focus groups. The MoH Health Informatics team itself had representatives from both the national and the regional levels, as well as Health Records, Clinical, IT and Management Personnel. 


After an intense week, the initial guidelines for the project were designed in order to complete the first stage by the end of this year. Moreover, our GNU Solidario team visited the Slipe Pen Road Comprehensive Health Centre for incipient calculations and further extrapolations.

 The path towards the national deployment has started, and both the local team at the Ministry of Health and GNU Solidario are optimistic and determined about fulfilling the roadmap and its expectations.

This initiative has generated a gratification that transcends the local jurisdiction, so that not only the Free Software community, but the whole world rejoice in this unprecedented milestone within Public Health Care.

Main IT crew that attended the workshops
Jamaican MoH building in Kingston

As stated at World Health Organization (WHO) Primary Health Care portal, “the ultimate goal of primary health care is better health for all”. WHO has identified five key elements to achieve that goal[1]:

  • reducing exclusion and social disparities in health;
  • organizing health services around people’s needs and expectations ;
  • integrating health into all sectors;
  • pursuing collaborative models of policy dialogue; and
  • increasing stakeholder participation.
That is GNU Health objective : Universality in Health Care. eHealth for all !
 
[1] The World Health Organization (WHO): Primary Health Care
 
About GNU Health

GNU Health is a Free Health and Hospital Information System that provides the following functionality: 

  • Health Information System (Demographics, Epidemiology)
  • Hospital Information System
  • Electronic Medical Record 

*GNU Health won the Best Project of Social Benefit from the Free Software Foundation, among other international awards.

*GNU Health is an official GNU Package , and is part of GNU Solidario, an NGO that delivers health with free software. GNU Solidario and the United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health have signed an agreement to implement and to train Health professionals GNU Health around the world.

*GNU Health was presented at the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Communication Union (ITU) session “ICT for Improving Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health” at the World Summit on the Information Society – WSIS 2013 Forum in Geneva.

 

GNU Health, the "Dok Champa" blooming in Lao

06 Friday Sep 2013

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National flower in Lao, the Dok Champa is a symbol of sincerity and the beauty of life. Likewise, the Center of Medical Rehabilitation (CMR) in Vientiane, capital city of Lao, is a pillar of pure honesty and compassion, dedicating their efforts and knowledge to promoting the best services for deaf, blind or otherwise disabled people. This week a team at CMR announced they will be incorporating GNU Health to their healthcare center. For the first stage of the project, the hospital will be implementing key modules such as Administration, Patient Registration, Accounting/Finances and Billing. 
Heading this enterprise will be the Director of the Center, Khamphet Manivong, along with Bounmy Sihaphom, Sisouvanh Sangbouaboulom and Anousak Souphavanh,
IT consultants from Calat.

 

This healthcare facility, formerly known as the National Rehabilitation Center, was established in 1964, comprised of the following departments:
  • Orthopedic workshop
  • Wheelchair workshop
  • Medical Rehabilitation
  • Community-based Rehabilitation
  • Special education for the deaf and the blind
  • Vocational school system for the disabled
However, it was not until March 29th, 1968, that the CMR officially opened its doors, providing physiotherapeutical treatment through an extended service across the country. It was originally the orthopedic workshop where prosthetic limbs for veterans and war victims were produced.

Nowadays, this center is rather renowned for its unique services for the unexploded ordenance (UXO) victims after the Vietnam War. The Hospital manages a total of 100 beds in different buildings and specializes in physical medicine, orthopedic surgery, prosthetic and orthotic fitting, as well as in physiotherapy and special education for blind and/or deaf children. Not only are they committed to the improvement of health conditions, but the center aims at changing the quality of life of every person they can reach. When it comes to their educational programs, this is what the hospital stated: “This is a significant step towards fulfilling the obligations of providing the fundamental rights of all our kids with disabilities to have equal access to mainstream education”.
 

It’s not over yet: the silent murderers attacking Lao

“The war is simply an obscenity, a depraved act by weak and miserable men, including all of us who have allowed it to go on and on with endless fury and destruction – all of us who would have remained silent had stability and order been secured. It is not pleasant to say such words, but candor permits no less”.

 

Noam Chomsky, in American Power and the New Mandarins (1969)

 

More than 30 years after Saigon’s fall, tipping point that ended the Vietnam War in 1975, the government of Lao is still asking the international community to sign a new agreement that forbids the use of cluster bombs.

During the Vietnam War, American airplanes dropped millions of bombs, many of which failed to explode when they hit the ground, but are yet still active today in the jungle. It is a war of the past that keeps murdering generations of the present.
 

5 things you should know about Lao

  • Capital city: Vientiane
  • Population: 6.5 mio (2012)
  • Government: Marxist-Leninist single-party state.
    • President: Choummaly Sayasone
    • Prime Minister: Thongsing Thammayong
  • Area: 236, 800 km2
  • Currency: Kip (LAK)
  • Official language: Lao
 


Laos Regions Map
View Larger Map

 

National Anthem of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic: “Pheng Xat Lao”

 
  1. Lao appoints 4.5% of its GDP to healthcare (2013)–more than Monaco, Saudi Arabia and India, for example. However,  there is one physician every 3000 people and one bed every 1000 people. Interestingly enough, one in every 10.9 jobs belongs to the tourism sector (2010).

     

  2. During the bellicose period from 1964 to 1973, 260 million bombs fell on Lao, making the country (on a per capita basis) the most heavily bombed civilian population ever. Of these, around 80 million cluster bombs failed to explode, so most villages have unexploded ordnance (UXO) on display salvaged from the forest and rice fields. Alas, thousands of Laotians die every year because of this unwanted war veteran.

     

  3. The internet domain for Lao is .la; there are 1,532 internet hosts (2012) and 300 thousand internet users. Moreover, there are 5.481 million mobile cellulars (2012) for a 6.5 million population
  4. Most of the basic words of Lao have only one syllable. Multi-syllable words are usually higher level and used in religion, academics or government. They were taken mainly from Sanskrit, the classical language of India, and are often the same as or similar to high-level vocabulary in Thai.
  5. The Mekong River runs like a major artery for the length of the country and its vast network of tributaries allow both locals and visitors to reach the remote interior. The WWF organization affirms that a new species is registered every two days in the Mekong area.

 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 

"Care for the world", for "People Like Us": GNU Health @MedInfo2013

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

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Hundreds of researchers and practitioners from all around the world gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark, for the “14th World Congress on Medical Health and Informatics” (MedInfo 2013). A triennial event, MedInfo provides both a high quality scientific exchange, as well as an opportunity for formal meetings and networking.

This particular edition, jointly hosted by the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and one of its Member Societies, targetted at a thorough debate on conducting medical informatics by converging technologies, conveying sciences and connecting people. As Prof. Antoine Geissbuhler, MD, President of the IMIA, said: “It is about leaders of the community charting the way forwards in the current challenging seas, about understanding how to blend diverse and advanced tools and techniques to provide better science and better services, about acquiring, sharing and disseminating state of the art knowledge, and about fostering useful synergies between people through smart information systems”.

GNU Health and Free Software in the spotlight

Luis discussing Social medicine and GNU Health
Ferrer-Roca, Kobayashi, Safie, Falcon, Aljunid, 
Demski, Karopka and Lisby at MedInfo 2013 (Denmark)

Luis Falcon from our very own GNU Solidario, attended the congress to present the GNU Health platform during the Mini-Symposium “Care for the World. Collaboration, Openness, Transparency and Trust as Prerequisite for High Quality, Effective and Efficient Health Care “. 

Hans Demski presenting Medfloss


Among the authors of this presentation were also Thomas Karopka, Syed Mohamed Aljunid, Nurhizam Safie, Hans Demski and Kjeld Lisby.

 
This mini-symposium portrayed two different methodologies to tackle the main Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) for health systems in the Global South: reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combatting HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Both approaches aim to providing high-quality, efficient and effective health care through Free and Open Source Software (FLOSS) and Open & User Driven Innovation in a global context.

Paul Turner at eHealth for People Like Us workshop

   

Moreover, Falcon also participated in the workshop “Moving Beyond eHealth Systems for ‘People Like Us’”, along with Paul Turner, Andre Kushniruk, Pernille Bertelsen and Chris Showell. This interactive workshop was as much a scientific innovation as it was a humbling experience, allowing all attendees to experience the gap between some convoluted designs of eHealth systems and average or disadvantaged users. “People Like us” (PLU) is a thinking tool and a conceptualization of two archetypal categories of potential users: one group, highly skilled and motivated, and a second one, much less engaged with topics around health and healthcare. The different solutions offered at the end of the workshop resulted from collective thinking and diverse participation. 




Indicators from a roadmap towards high-quality healthcare

Pivot in MedInfo 2013 is to coalesce around key issues in facing the future of health and technology. For this reason, Luis Falcon, Thomas Karopka and other members of P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { }the Free Libre and Open Source Health Informatics Working Group (OSWG) of the IMIA agreed to generate a new system called “Common Health Indicator Reporting Interface”. This initiative brought together both experts and interested individuals from manifold areas of expertise to contribute in the potential application of open source solutions within their domains. Furthermore, the team at GNU Solidario confirmed that GNU Health would be incorporating this standard. P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:linkP { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { 
Thomas Karopka, Alvin Marcelo and Luis Falcon
Luis Falcon, Paul Turner and Thomas Karopka