Tag Archives: GNU solidario

Budi Luhur University, Indonesia, joins GNU Health !

19 Friday Jul 2013

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Once again, with great pleasure and honor, we announce that another university has joined the GNU Health Community: The Budi Luhur Universitas (Indonesia)
Budi Luhur University, under the management of Budi Luhur Foundation is a nationally recognized institution with excellent teaching. The university being the pioneer among private universities in Indonesia offering computer studies, is consistently judged as one of Indonesia’s best higher educational institution in computer studies and is still highly respected.
We are so proud to see how GNU Health is spreading globally in the health care and academic system.
Thanks again to the Budi Luhur University for joining us !

GNU Health project at Kyeni Consolata Hospital – Kenya –

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

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Few weeks ago we got a mail from Beatriz Meijide. She is from Spain and she has been involved in a very great project for the last 10 years.
Beatriz has been collaborating with the Kyeni Consolata Hospital (Kenya), this a 166 bed hospital with a patient growth on +188% from 2005 to 2012. It is considered the locals favorite hospital for personalised attention and services. The hospital has improved a lot since 2005 and the idea of the people working there is to enhance it even more.  Knowing that the Hospital was in need of an Hospital Information System, Beatriz heard about GNU Health and contacted us and completed a GNU Health Training.
These are her words:

    ” … I believe GNU Health will take the Kyeni Hospital to another level an it will greatly increase the efficiency and control of the hospital information. I think it covers all te areas we need and it also offers the ability to customize further developments if they are required. It’s been a very intense training and I believe I’ll be able to train the  local team in Kenya ! GNU Health is a very “user-friendly” system and I hope we’ll be another success story … ” Beatriz Meijide

Thanks again to Beatriz and the Kyeni Hospital. We’re very proud and exited to be part of this beatiful project !

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

GNU Health version 2.0 released !

08 Monday Jul 2013

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Dear All:

I’m proud to announce the release of GNU Health 2.0.0 !
This version comes after 5 months of very hard work, and brings the best version so far. The following highlights some of the main achievements of this version :
  • Compatible with Tryton 2.8
  • GNU Health Installer . An easy OS-independent server installation method
  • Neglected Tropical Diseases – Chagas Module
  • Domiciliary Unit model.
  • Integration with OpenStreetMap (OSM) for realtime geolocation of the Domiciliary Units and other demographic and epidemiological studies.
  • WHO essential medicines is now a module
  • Improve hospitalization module : Bed transfers wizard
  • New Demographics section and functionality on individuals and families
  • Pre-operative ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) Physical Status Classification System
  • Revised Cardiac Risk Index
  • Extended Patient Identification registration
  • Improved navigation and view layouts
  • Improved Documentation (on Wikibooks: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/GNU_Health)

Bug fixes and many other contributions and suggestions have been incorporated to this version.

UPGRADE : If you plan to upgrade your database from existing releases, please follow the instructions under the “scripts” directory. Before doing the upgrade, double check that you have backed up both your kernel and database !
Documentation: The documentation portal on Wikibooks (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/GNU_Health) is being re-written with a new format, more comprehensive and easier to follow. The first four chapters and the installation section are pretty much done, and we are working every day to update all remaining chapters.
Enjoy GNU Health 2.0 and thank you for contributing to a better and more just Public Health using Free Software !
Bests
—
Luis Falcon
President, GNU Solidario

GNU Health en COMISCA 2013

07 Friday Jun 2013

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Queridos amigos

Les envío el enlace de la presentación que hoy he tenido el honor de realizar en en la Sala Regional de Situación de Salud del Consejo de Ministros de Salud de Centro América (COMISCA), celebrada en San Salvador. La presentación se centró en APS y salud materno-infantil.

Versión Español : COMISCA 2013
http://health.gnu.org/downloads/media/GNU_Health_COMISCA_2013.pdf

Hace unas semanas hice una presentación con una temática similar en la sesión de eHealth de la Union Internacional de Telecomunicaciones  / Organización Mundial de la Salud en Ginebra. Aprovecho para dejarles el enlace:

English version:
Resumen de la presentación en  International Telecomunications Union /
World Health Organization – WSIS 2013. 
Versión en Español:
Muchas gracias a los que directa o indirectamente son parte de este proyecto !
Thank you very much to those who are, directly or indirectly, part of this project !
Luis Falcon
President, GNU Solidario
http://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

 

University of West Indies, Jamaica, joins GNU Health

24 Friday May 2013

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We are very pleased to announce that the University of West Indies has joined the GNU Health‘s Community !
GNU Solidario and UWI are starting this cooperation working closely on GNU Health’s development and deployment in the region.
The University of the West Indies is a dynamic, international institution serving the countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean (Anguilla, Antigua/Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Christopher-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands).
UWI’s mission is to unlock West Indian potential for economic and cultural growth by high quality teaching and research aimed at meeting critical regional needs, by providing West Indian society with an active intellectual centre and by linking the West Indian community with distinguished centres of research and teaching in the Caribbean and overseas. 
UWI recognises that as a regional university supported by the West Indian peoples, and as the sole local organ equipped to meet local requirements and to relate its own developmental programmes to them, it should give priority to regional needs (…).
It’s wonderful to see how the GNU Health’s community is growing. We need to deliver more Health and Education with Free Software !

GNU Health at FLISOL 2013 – Interview by Canal Seis

09 Thursday May 2013

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We would like to thank once again all the people involved in the organization of this great event. It was a pleasure and an honor to share this moment with all of you.
It was a great opportunity to show how it is possible to deliver e-Health and Education with Free Software !
We’ll leave you with a video !