Tag Archives: developing countries

GNU Health presentation at World Health Organization – WHO

25 Tuesday Mar 2014

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Dear friends

I’m very proud to announce that our GNU Health presentation at WHO Second Global Forum on Medical Devices in Geneva, Switzerland, has been published at the World Health Organization site . Thank you United Nations for inviting me, it has been a fantastic experience and opportunity !
I shared with the audience the importance of Free (Freedom) Software in the Health Care sector, stressing that Health must be a public good and it can not belong to private corporations.
GNU Health is now being installed in many countries around the World, it has over 80 translation teams, and a great community that contributes that keeps growing every day.
GNU Health presentation at World Health Organization - WHO
Special thanks to the government of Jamaica, and to its Ministry of Health, who has adopted GNU Health as their eHealth system for the whole country. This is amazing ! Just some years ago, we, health care professionals and social activists, just dreamed about one day being able to provide equality in health care. Today is becoming a reality !
This April 10th I will be in Luxembourg, at Medetel , talking about the GNU Health implementation in Jamaica.
GNU Health 2.6 is coming soon, with a lot of new functionality, such as HL7 FHIR, improved ergonomics, strong auditing, and much more. We’ll be releasing the RC version soon so you can take a look of what is coming up and be able to test it.
Thanks to the Free Software Foundation for making GNU Health a GNU official package; to Free Operating Systems such as GNU/Linux or FreeBSD; to great frameworks like Tryton; to fantastic programing languages like Python and to the most beautiful and powerful database engine PostgreSQL. They all make GNU Health possible.These are just some examples, from a much larger list, to show that GNU Health is a real community-based project.
Let me take this opportunity to invite you to the upcoming International Workshop on Emerging Economies – IWEEE “Social Medicine” , brought to you by GNU Solidario, that will take place in the city of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria this May 29-30th.  Join us and share your experience and benefits of Free Software in the Health Sector !
IWEEE 2014 - Social Medicine
Remember that health must be a non-negotiable human right, and that people always come before profit.
Looking forward to seeing you in Las Palmas !

[1] Luis Falcon. GNU Health Interfacing and Interoperability   http://www.who.int/medical_devices/global_forum/2nd-gf_posters/en/index8.html

[2] Poster : http://www.who.int/medical_devices/global_forum/H40.pdf

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.

Main site : health.gnu.org

GNU Health at Care for the World – MedInfo 2013

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

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MedInfo 2013

We are very happy to participate in Medinfo 2013 and talk about GNU Health in two different sessions:

  • Care for the World Symposium: Collaboration, Openness, Transparency and Trust as Prerequisite for High Quality, Effective and Efficient Health Care.

  • Moving Beyond eHealth Systems for ‘People Like Us’

Care for the World Symposium
 

Care for the World is a symposium organized by Thomas Karopka ( BioCon Valley GmbH, Germany), that I have the privilege to represent GNU Solidario, joining my colleagues Syed Aljunid and Nurhizam Safie (United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health, Malaysia );  Holger Schmuhl (Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging, Helmholtz Center Munich, Germany) and Kjeld Lisby (Ideas Clinic, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark) 


I will talk about GNU Health, the Free Health and Hospital Information System, and discuss the benefits that Free Software provides to Public Health. I will put focus in Primary Health Care; The MDG6 and Neglected Tropical Diseases functionalty in GNU Health.

Abstract

While the Global South still struggles to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the health systems of the Global North are under pressure due to an aging population and life style related diseases. In 2000 the Millennium Development Goals have been formulated with the major goal of freeing people from extreme poverty and multiple deprivations. Three of the goals are linked to health, namely reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Three years before the deadline at the end of 2015 the world has met some important targets while others remain to be seen. In this mini-symposium two different but related methodologies will be presented that are regarded by the authors as the most powerful principles to provide high-quality, efficient and effective health care in a global context. These two methodologies are the use of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) and Open & User Driven Innovation. This mini-symposium provides real world best practice examples of these methodologies. The chosen best practice examples represent a Global South and a Global North perspective and context and will highlight the potential of combining these approaches and are intended to induce a process of mutual learning and exchange of experience among Global South/Global North as well as different communities and different parts of the world.


Moving Beyond eHealth Systems for “People Like Us” 

This workshop is organized by Paul Turner (eHealth Services Research Group, University of Tasmania, Australia) , Andre Kushniruk (School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Canada), Pernille Bertelsen (Department of Development and Planning, Virtual Centre for Health Informatics, Aalborg University, Denmark )


For this workshop, I will demonstrate how we can enhance the interaction with the Patient and the Health Center, as well as the Doctor-Patient relationship using GNU Health and Free Software. Simple, yet effective solutions that cover from mobile integration to Patient Digital IDs and e-prescriptions for people that don’t have the technical or academic background.


Abstract

The tendency to design personal ehealth systems for well to do technically literate professionals, rather than average or disadvantaged users (the PLU problem), has been described previously, but is not yet well understood. This interactive workshop will introduce attendees to the PLU problem, expose them to a simulated experience of being a disadvantaged system user, and encourage them to share their experiences of systems which may exclude disadvantaged users. Attendees will also discuss ideas and potential solutions for the design of more inclusive ehealth systems, and identify positive steps which could ameliorate or avoid the problem in the future. Key outputs of the workshop will include a summary of the information provided by attendees, draft criteria for identifying potential PLU-type problems, and an interim list of possible or actual solutions.

Many thanks to MedInfo for this great event, and especially to Thomas Karopka (Chair IMIA OS WG) and Paul Turner (Associate Professor, eHealth Services Research Group, University of Tasmania, Australia) for inviting me to be part of their symposium and workshop. It’s an honor for me to share with you such an important event, and to promote the adoption of Free Software in Public Health.

Looking forward to meeting all of you in Copenhagen !

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.

Main site : health.gnu.org

Reflexiones acerca de GNU Health en la sesión de la UIT – OMS WSIS 2013

27 Monday May 2013

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From Luis Falcon’s blog (english version)
En este mes de mayo he tenido el gran privilegio de ser invitado a participar como ponente en la sesión de la Unión Internacional de las Telecomunicaciones (UIT) y de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) : “TICs para la Mejora de la Información y Responsabilidades de la Salud Materno-Infantil” en la Cumbre Mundial sobre la Sociedad de la Información – WSIS 2013 Forum.

 
El titulo de mi presentación fue: “GNU Health: Mejorando la Salud de Niños y Madres con el Software Libre” y se realizó el día 14 de mayo, con una transmisión de la misma en vivo por Internet.
Oficinas Centrales de la Organización Mundial de la Salud en Ginebra

No puedo dejar de pensar en los tremendos niveles de mortalidad materno-infantil, la mayoría por enfermedades prevenibles. Estos pensamientos son el motor principal para el desarrollo de GNU Health, una herramienta con Software Libre que puede mejorar la salud de millones de personas en países en desarrollo.

Opening Session en WSIS 2013
GNU Health tiene su foco principal en la Atención Primaria y en la Declaración de Alma Ata. Nosotros solo cambiamos una letra de esa declaración, transformando el original “Salud para Todos” en “e-Salud para Todos”.

Tily Martín y Miguel Falcón de GNU Solidario

De esta manera luchamos para que la Salud y e-Salud sean un bien público. Los gobiernos deberían utilizar el Software Libre como una forma de lograr políticas de Estado sostenibles en el ámbito de la salud pública.

Luis Falcón en su sesión
Es desgarrador ver a países pagar millones de dólares a corporaciones extranjeras en licencias de software privativo. Deberían mejor pensar en utilizar ese dinero para potenciar la promoción de la salud; las campañas de prevención de enfermedades, o mejorar los salarios de los profesionales de la salud o la infraestructura de muchos centros, por mencionar algunas ideas. 
Para continuar con los conceptos de la  Declaración de Alma Ata y con la Atención Primaria de la Salud, la tecnología médica debe ser accesible, asequible y factible. No es necesario adquirir sistemas costosos o de ciencia ficción, en la Atención de la Salud lo que necesitamos son herramientas asequibles y eficaces.

Tily Martín, Dr. Alberto Lazzero y Luis Falcón

En mi charla presenté el caso de la implementación de GNU Health en un Hospital Público de Entre Ríos, Argentina. GNU Health gestiona los datos demográficos de la ciudad, la información socioeconómica de las familias, las evaluaciones de los pacientes, los análisis de  laboratorio, farmacia y stock, hospitalización, contabilidad financiera y RRHH, para mencionar algunos de los procesos utilizados. El centro sólo tuvo que invertir en la compra de computadoras para las oficinas de los profesionales de la salud.

Dr. Jordi Serrano, Luis Falcon y Sr. Hani Eskandar

La informática medica es sólo una herramienta para optimizar el profesional de la salud, los centros de salud y las autoridades sanitarias. No es ciencia ficción y no debe reemplazar el factor humano. El rol del profesional de la salud, integrado con los pacientes, las familias y la sociedad es insustituible.

He tenido el honor de compartir el panel con la Dra. Véronique Thouvenot (ITU), el Dr. Misha Kay (WHO eHealth Unit), el Sr. Hani Eskandar (ITU), el Dr. Ousmane Ly (National Mali Telemedicine Agency), el Dr. Jordi Serrano Pons (UniversalDoctors) y el Prof. Peter Bruck ( World Summit Award).

Ponentes sesión sobre eSalud
Mi agradecimiento a la Unión Internacional de las Comunicaciones (IUT) y a la Organización Mundial de la Salud (WHO) por invitarme a un evento tan importante y por poner el Software Libre (FLOSS) en el orden del día. El Software Libre mantiene viva la Declaración Alma Ata y La Atención Primaria de la Salud, aportando equidad y universalidad. La Salud debería seguir siendo un derecho humano no negociable y, la comunidad del software libre, debería ser un elemento clave para lograr este objetivo.

Algunos enlaces:
About GNU Health

GNU Health es un Sistema Libre de Gestión Hospitalaria y de Información de la Salud con las siguientes funcionalidades:

  •     Expediente Médico Electrónico (EMR
  •     Sistema de Gestión Hospitalaria (HIS)
  •     Sistema de Información de Salud
En 2012 GNU Health ha sido galardonado como mejor Proyecto para Beneficio Social 2011 por la Free Software Foundation.
En 2013, GNU Health ha recibido los premios como  Software Libre mas revolucionario y software con mayor potencial de crecimiento por el  PortalProgramas.

GNU Health es un  Paquete Oficial GNU , y es parte de GNU Solidario. GNU Solidario en una ONG que entrega educación y salud con software libre a países en vía de desarrollo. GNU Health es un sistema de Gestión Hospitalaria y de Información de la Salud elegido por las Naciones Unidas y el International Institute of Global Health. GNU Solidario y la Universidad de Naciones Unidas, International Institute for Global Health han firmado un acuerdo para implementar y enseñar GNU Health a nivel mundial.

Reflections from GNU Health at WHO – ITU session WSIS 2013

26 Sunday May 2013

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This month of May we had the immense privilege to be a guest speaker in 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.

The title of the presentation was “GNU Health : Improving Children and Mothers Lives with Free Software“.  The presentation was on May 14th, and it was transmitted live over the Internet.

At WHO headquarters in Geneva
I keep thinking about the tremendous levels of maternal and child death, most of them from preventable diseases. This thoughts are the main drive to develop GNU Health, a tool to improve the health of millions of people in developing countries with Free Software. 
At the WSIS Forum 2013 inauguration session
GNU Health has at its heart Primary Care and the Alma Ata Declaration. We only change a letter from that declaration. To the original “Health for all“, we added the “e” to become “eHealth for all“.
Tily Martin and Miguel Falcon from GNU Solidario

In this sense, we fight to make health  – and eHealth – a public good. Governments should use Free Software as a way to achieve sustainable state policies in the field of public health. 
Luis Falcon during the session
It’s heartbreaking to see countries paying millions of dollars to corporations in freedom-denying software licenses. Think about putting that money to improve health promotion and disease prevention campaigns, or to improve the salaries of the health professionals; or to improve the infrastructure of many health centers, just to name some ideas.

Keeping along the Alma Ata Declaration and Primary Health Care, medical technology should be accessible, affordable and feasible. We don’t need expensive, science fiction hardware of software, we need affordable and effective tools in health care.
 
Tily Martin, Dr. Alberto Lazzero and Luis Falcon
In the talk I presented the GNU Health implementation case of a Public Hospital in Entre Rios, Argentina. GNU Health manages the city demographics, socioeconomics, families,  patient evaluations, laboratory, stock and pharmacy, hospitalizations, financial accounting, human resources and medical imaging, to name a few processes within the health center. The health center only had to invest in buying desktops in the health professional offices.
Dr. Jordi Serrano, Luis Falcon and Mr. Hani Eskandar

Health informatics is just a tool to optimize the health professional, health center and health authorities. It’s not science fiction and should never replace the human factor. The role of the health professional, integrated with the patient, families and society is irreplaceable.

I had the honor to share the panel with Dr. Véronique Thouvenot (ITU), Dr. Misha Kay (WHO eHealth Unit), Mr. Hani Eskandar (ITU), Dr Ousmane Ly (National Mali Telemedicine Agency), Dr. Jordi Serrano Pons (UniversalDoctors) and Prof. Peter Bruck ( World Summit Award). 

eHealth Session Panelists

 
My gratitude goes to WSIS and WHO for inviting me to such an important event, and for putting Free Software (FLOSS) in the agenda. Free Software care keeps alive the Alma Ata Declaration and Primary Health Care, providing equity and universality. Health must remain a non-negotiable human right, and the free software community should be a key component to achieve this goal.

Some links :

WSIS Agenda
Pictures from Day 2 sessions

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.

Main site : health.gnu.org

 

GNU Health 1.8 is out, with Android support

21 Thursday Feb 2013

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From Luis Falcón blog:  
It’s been a couple of weeks since the release of GNU Health series 1.8, and we’re thrilled on the evolution of the system, and its adoption by the community.
This latest series is compatible with Tryton 2.6.x and has many improvements, in the core and reporting modules, among others. As usual, the migration from previous versions are included.

The other good news is that, being compatible with Tryton 2.6 allows the connection from mobile devices with the Android Operating System . 
Thanks to the great Tryton development framework, and to the fantastic job done by SCIL  in the development of the Android client for Tryton, GNU Health servers can now be accessed directly from your mobile device. 
 
You can find the Android client on Google Play . For the development process, check the SCIL page .

There are more good news on the way. The web client is also around the corner, and we will have 3 different ways to connect to GNU Health. From the standard GTK interface, the Android client, or your web browser.

Make sure you upgrade your database to the latest GNU Health version. The upgrade scripts and the instructions are always incorporated in the new version. The upgrade process is an integral part of GNU Health and, of course, it’s completely free.
e-Health for all !

About GNU Health

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

  •     Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
  •     Hospital Information System (HIS)
  •     Health Information System (Epidemiology)


GNU Health has been awarded the Best Project of Social Benefit from the Free Software Foundation in 2012. 

In 2013, GNU Health received the awards for  most revolutionary Free Software and software with the largest potential from PortalProgramas.

GNU Health is an  official GNU Package , chosen by Richard Stallman, and is part of GNU Solidario. GNU Solidario is a NGO that delivers education and health to emerging economies with free software. GNU Health is the Hospital Information System chosen by the United Nations International Institute of Global Health.  GNU Solidario and the United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health have signed an agreement to implement and to train GNU Health globally.

6ª edición IWEEE: Internacional Workshop on e-Health in Emerging Economies

22 Monday Oct 2012

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La próxima edición tendrá lugar en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (España) el 25 de enero 2013. Richard Stallman, de la Free Software Foundation ya confirmó su presencia ! 
“Como la mayoría de ustedes ya sabe, IWEEE reúne a un equipo multidisciplinario que representa ONGs, Academias, Gobiernos e Industrias para compartir sus experiencias y tratar de encontrar formas de mejorar la vida de millones de seres humanos en todo el mundo. IWEEE se centra en el factor humano y en crear conciencia sobre la situación actual de las sociedades. Vamos a discutir mecanismos que ayudaránn a los profesionales de salud, instituciones y organizaciones no gubernamentales en mejorar la calidad de vida de muchos seres humanos. El evento promueve el Software Libre como una solución eficaz y ética de proporcionar la universalidad y la equidad en la atención de la salud. No habrá conferencias paralelas. IWEEE es un evento sin fines de lucro organizado por GNU Solidario. Espero que encuentren este evento tan inspirador como lo es para mi. Espero verles en Las Palmas !”. Luis Falcón, Presidente GNU Solidario.
En las próximas semanas publicaremos más información. Mientras tanto les pido de contactarnos si están interesados en esponsorizar o auspiciar el evento, así como si quisieran hacer una donación a GNU Solidario. 
Su ayuda contribuirá a entregar Salud y Educación a los más necesitados.
En las próximas semanas abriremos las inscripciones y la presentación de ponencias.

Más información:
info@gnusolidario.org

Gran éxito de la capacitación GNU Health en la Universidad de Naciones Unidas (UNU-IIGH)

21 Friday Sep 2012

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Desde el blog de Luis Falcón (English version)


La Universidad de Naciones Unidas con el Instituto Internacional para la Salud Global (UNU-IIGH) ha llevado a cabo otra capacitación de GNU Health en el marco del seminario “Free Software Hospital Information System Development Workshop”.

El curso se ha impartido con gran éxito durante la semana del 10 al 14 de Septiembre en la Universidad de Naciones Unidas, en Malasia. Han participado representantes de Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Filipinas, Camboya, Tayikistán, Sudán, Kenia y Marruecos.

Este evento ha sido organizado en cooperación con el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Malasia. Desde el sitio oficial de UNU-IIGH: “Este programa está en línea con el objetivo de la UNU-IIGH, que es la difusión de información y el fomento de capacidades en países en vías de desarrollo, hacia el logro de los Objetivos del Desarrollo del Milenio, entre los cuales se encuentra la accesibilidad a una asistencia sanitaria de calidad para todos”.
Estoy muy feliz de ver como progresa el uso de GNU Health y del Software Libre en la Salud Pública. Gracias a nuestros partners desde el UNU-IIGH por el compromiso con el Software Libre en la asistencia sanitaria, ya que el Software Libre proporciona la libertad y la sostenibilidad para el cuidado de la salud, sin importar el estatus económico.

GNU Health es el sistema Gestión Hospitalaria y de Información de salud de Software Libre que ofrece las siguientes funciones : 
  • Expediente Médico Electrónico (EMR)
  • Sistema de Gestión Hospitalaria (HIS)
  • Sistema de Información de Salud (Epidemiología)

GNU Health es parte de GNU Solidario, una ONG que implementa soluciones de Salud y Educación mediante software libre. 

GNU Health es software oficial del sistema GNU, adoptado por Richard Stallman y la Free Software Foundation. Las Naciones Unidas, por medio del Instituto Internacional de Salud Global, capacita y promueve el uso de GNU Health en los países donde tienen presencia. 

Gobiernos con GNU Health en sus Portales
  • Brasil : Portal do Software Público Brasileiro (SPB) 
  • Comunidad Europea : OSOR / JoinUp

Página principal : health.gnu.org

GNU Health workshop at the United Nations for African and Asian countries

20 Thursday Sep 2012

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The United Nations International Institute for Global Health UNU-IIGH – have sucessfully delivered another GNU Health training, in their “Free Software Hospital Information System Development Workshop” .
The workshop was held during September 10-14th, at the the United Nations University facilities in Malaysia. There were delegates from Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Philippines, Cambodia, Tajikistan, Sudan, Kenya and Morrocco.
This event has been in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia. From UNU IIGH website, “This programme is in line with UNU-IIGH’s goal of information dissemination and capacity building in developing countries towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, among which is accessible quality healthcare for everyone”
GNU Health training partitipants at the United Nations IIGH
I’m very happy to see the increasing adoption GNU Health and Free Software in public Health. Thanks to our partners from the UNU-IIGH for their commitment with Free Software in healthcare, because Free Software provides freedom and sustainability to health care, no matter their economic status.

eHealth for all !

About GNU Health

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

  •     Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
  •     Hospital Information System (HIS)
  •     Health Information System

GNU Health has been awarded the Best Project of Social Benefit from the Free Software Foundation in 2012.

GNU Health is an official GNU Package , chosen by Richard Stallman, and is part of GNU Solidario. GNU Solidario is a NGO that delivers education and health to emerging economies with free software.

GNU Health is the Hospital Information System chosen by the United Nations International Institute of Global Health.  GNU Solidario and the United Nations University, International Institute for Global Health have signed an agreement to implement and to train GNU Health globally.

Main site : health.gnu.org



GNU Health wins FSF Project of Social Benefit

02 Monday Apr 2012

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Just got back to Buenos Aires after a 10 days in the United States and El Salvador, and finally got some time to write about the award, what it means to GNU Solidario and to the community at large.
The FSF’s ceremony took place at the University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMass) on Sunday March 25th, during the LibrePlanet 2012 conference. On the ceremony, there were two awards :
  • Award for the Advancement of Free Software:Yukihiro Matsumoto, creator of the Ruby Programming Language. Congratulations Matz !
  • Award for the Project of Social Benefit : GNU Health
Richard Stallman and Luis Falcon
As stated by the FSF, the Award for Projects of Social Benefit is presented to the project or team responsible for applying free software, or the ideas of the free software movement, in a project that intentionally and significantly benefits society in other aspects of life. This award stresses the use of free software in the service of humanity.

GNU Health won award for Project of Social Benefit 2011
I want to thank the committee for choosing GNU Health : Suresh Ramasubramanian, Peter H. Salus, Wietse Venema, Raj Mathur, Hong Feng, Andrew Tridgell, Jonas Oberg, Vernor Vinge, Richard Stallman, Fernanda G. Weiden, Harald Welte, and Rob Savoyes.

Luis Falcon holding the award and the mascot


We take this award with great pride, but also with great responsibility. We share this award with novel previous winners  Wikipedia, Creative Commons, Internet Archives, Groklaw, Tor and Sahana Disaster Management System .

I see Free Software as social activism. GNU Health goal is to improve the lives of the underprivileged by means of Free Software.  We deliver a Free Health and Hospital Information System to health centers all around the world. Because is Free (Freedom), the software belongs to them. They can modify it, improve it, and localize it to their needs ! This is the Free Software philosophy.

GNU Health provides the basis for sustainable and universal medicine, no matter the economical status of the health center or the patient. After all, Health is a non-negotiable human right and never should belong to the greedy corporations. Health is a public good, and so it should be health informatics.

Yukihiro Matsumoto “Matz” and Luis Falcon
I want to thank the Free Software Foundation and his creator, Richard Stallman, for creating the environment for social justice and equity. 
Thank you to the Free Software community : Python, Postgresql, Tryton, GNU/Linux, GnuPG and Wikimedia foundation are just some of the building blocks for GNU Health. Without a free software community, GNU Health wouldn’t exist.
Thank you to the governments adopting Free Software as a Public good.
Thank you to the community, to all of you who contribute your time and talent to improve GNU Health !
Finally, I want to dedicate this award to the men and women who anonymously give their lives to help the underprivileged. You are an example for all of us !
For more information, please check the official announcement at the Free Software Foundation  : 
About GNU Health

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

  •     Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
  •     Hospital Information System (HIS)
  •     Health Information System

GNU Health is an official GNU Package , chosen by Richard Stallman, and is part of GNU Solidario. GNU Solidario is a NGO that delivers education and health to emerging economies with free software.

GNU Health is the Hospital Information System chosen by the United Nations International Institute of Global Health. 

Main site : health.gnu.org

Governments hosting GNU Health through their portals :

    European Commission (EU) , JoinUp

    Brazil: Portal do Software Público Brasileiro (SPB)


GNU Health MDG 6 and NTDs

18 Sunday Mar 2012

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Introduction

The United Nations signed in September 2000 the Millennium Declaration, to fight poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women .

Chaco: El Centro Man...

The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) has derived from the Millennium declaration and it has 8 goals. MDG 6 focuses on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.
On the other hand, there is 1 billion (1,000 million) people living with tropical infectious diseases that could represent the “other diseases” part of the MDG 6. This group is named Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs).  These are diseases of the poorest, that makes them socially excluded and stigmatized. 
GNU Solidario believes that Free Software is a key factor to accomplish these goals. GNU Health, the Free Health and Hospital Information System will help the health centers, researches, NGOs and professionals and volunteers to eradicate these devastating diseases.
What are GNU Health MDG 6 and GNU Health NTDs ?

health_mdg6 is a GNU Health module that incorporates the Millennium Development Goal # 6, to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 

GNU Health will incorporate the specific functionality to help prevent, diagnose, treat and control each of these devastating diseases.
The health_mdg6 module will maintain the multi-disciplinary approach, providing tools to the social worker, nurse, biochemist, laboratory , pharmacist, epidemiologist and physician, integrating the health professional into the community.
So, for example, upon a new possible case of active Tuberculosis (TB), GNU Health will execute the following actions : Detect and notify the contacts of the patient; Start profilaxis treatment on contacts ; Create a new laboratory order for culture and antibiogram and check for the strain resistance ; verify the DOTS (Direct Observed Treatment Short) on the patient ; Check the stock for the PPD test-kits and do a forecast for the existing anti-tuberculosis medicaments; Check for availability of special rooms if there is need for hospitalization; inform the health authorities of a new case; start a new prevention campaign.
The health_ntd will cover the Neglected Tropical Diseases.
What diseases will cover GNU Health MDG 6 and NTD?

health_mdg6. The diseases stated in first part the WHO MDG 6: 
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Malaria
  • Tuberculosis
health_ntds. Neglected Tropical diseases that affect 1 billion (1000 million) people. Diseases are dynamic by nature, so the list can include emerging diseases at any time, but the initial list will contain :

  • Guinea Worm
  • Lymphatic Filariasis
  • Blinding Trachoma
  • Sleeping Sickness
  • Leprosy
  • Soil Transmitted-Helminths
  • Schistosomiasis
  • River Blindness
  • Chagas
  • Visceral Leishmaniasis
  • Dengue
About GNU Health

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

  •     Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
  •     Hospital Information System (HIS)
  •     Health Information System

GNU Health is an official GNU Package , chosen by Richard Stallman, and is part of GNU Solidario. GNU Solidario is a NGO that delivers education and health to emerging economies with free software.

GNU Health is the Hospital Information System chosen by the United Nations International Institute of Global Health. 

Main site : health.gnu.org

Governments hosting GNU Health through their portals :

    European Commission (EU) , JoinUp

    Brazil: Portal do Software Público Brasileiro (SPB)