Tag Archives: Public Health

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)


Speakers Program IWEEE 2012 Granada: Commitment

18 Sunday Dec 2011

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On January 11th. 2012 Granada (Spain) will host the 5th edition of IWEEE: International Workshop on e-Health for Emerging Economies. 



The event will take place in the Hotel Citymar San Anton in the Hall Moraima. The conferences will start at 9 AM with the Opening Session by Luis Falcón of GNU Solidario.
We are still receiving confirmations from international speakers. The program is pretty much closed down, but if you are interested to give a speech, please send us a mail ASAP. So far we can count with participants from different international organizations.

As always, an important part of IWEEE is the Round Table. This year we have been invited to be part of the International Conference of Free Software that will be held at the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos of Granada on January 12th – 2012.
So in this edition the Round Table, that this year will be an “Unconference” (in order to create the best collaborative environment for new ideas and projects) will take place in the morning of January 12th. as part of the International Conference of Free Software.

Make sure to register to the event by sending an e-mail to : info@iweee.org
January 11th , 2012 – Hotel Citymar San Anton – Granada
Time
Speaker Name
Organization
Country
Speech Title
09:00–09:15
Luis Falcón
GNU Solidario
Spain
Opening Session
09:15–09:45
Mohamed Salleh Yasin
UNU-IIGH – United Nations University International Institute for Global Health
Malaysia
Role of UNU-IIGH in Research and Capacity Building in Free Software
09:45–10:15
Nicolás Caballero
Presidency of the Republic of Paraguay
Paraguay
Open Technologies in Paraguay’s Public Health
10:15–10:45
Nurhizam Safie Bin Mohd Satar
United Nations University International Institute for Global Health
Malaysia
Free Software Hospital Information System: Sustainable Solutions for Developing Countries
10:45–11:15
Joice Käfer
 Brod Tecnologia
Brazil
Technology, an Health Approach
11:15–11:45
Coffee Break
11:4 – 12:15
Cesar Brod
Ministry of Planning – Government of Brazil
Brazil
Public Software, Public Content, Public Health
12:15–12:45
Thomas Karopka
International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and European Federation for Medical Informatics (EFMI)
Germany
Health informatics for development: Challenges and opportunities for free software in health care delivery
12:45–13:15
Raúl Zambrano
UNDP – United Nations Development Program
USA
Free Foftware and Human Development
13:15–13:45
Abdrahman Elkafil
Nextma and Moroccan Society for Telemedicine and Health (MSfTeH). 
Morocco
Methodology for Establishing a System of Free Software in Health in a Moroccan Care Center
13:45–15:45
Lunch Recess
15:4 – 16:15
Etienne Saliez
ISfTeH – International Society for Telemedicine and Health
Belgium
Problem Oriented Multidisciplinary Care and Informatics Object Model in low resources and Free Software Environments
16:15–16:45
Aljunid Syed Mohamed
UNU-IIGH – United Nations University International Institute for Global Health
Malaysia
Casemix System on Free Software Platform: Ensuring Sustainability in Social Insurance Scheme
16:45–17:15
Luis Falcón
GNU Solidario
Spain
GNU Health 2.0
Thursday 12th – Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos
Round Table IWEEE Unconference : “Commitment” – Level of Free Software Adoption in Governments and Public Health
We hope to see you in Granada !

More info: 

IWEEE 2012: V International Workshop on e-Health in Emerging Economies

11 Sunday Dec 2011

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We are very happy to announce the 5th edition of IWEEE: International Workshop on e-Health in Emerging Economies.
The next edition will be held in Granada (Spain) on January 11, 2012. The slogan for the 2012 is going to be: “Commitment”. It’s time for individuals, public administrations and governments to adopt Free Software in public health, so we can all have access to good quality health care.
Our mission in GNU Solidario is: Health and Education with Free Software.
Some of the topics for discussion will be :

* Free software in the health sector
* e-Health in Public Health
* Need for Free Standards in e-Health
If you are interested to participate with a speech or presentation, please send us your papers: info@iweee.org
More info:  

GNU Health and Lomonosov Moscow State University – Faculty of Medicine

06 Tuesday Dec 2011

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Hospital Main Entrance

On December 5th. in the city of Buenos Aires (Argentina) GNU Solidario welcomed a delegation of members from the Lomonosov Moscow State University – Faculty of Medicine (Russia) and from ARMIT (Association of Developers of Software for Healthcare System).

The Russian Delegation, lead by Prof. Oleg Medvedev, (VD, Ph.D) Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology. Prof. Oleg got in touch with Luis Falcón, of GNU Solidario, around a month ago. He was coming to Argentina and wanted to learn more about the Organization of the National Health Care System in Argentina.

Moscow University delegation at Hospital Militar Central – Buenos Aires –

Thanks to the help and organization of the Universidad Barceló, the Russian Delegation could get a guided tour at the Dr. Cosme Argerich Hospital.

The delegation is received in the main hall by the authorities of the Hospital
At the Dr. Cosme Argerich Hospital, Dr. José Luis Ciucchi, Dr. Oscar Regalado and Lic. Viviana Rousseaux were in charge of the visit. The 33 delegates with the members from GNU Solidario and the Universidad Barceló were received in the main hall and then started a very interesting tour, beginning with an institutional video about the hospital.

Hospital Institutional video
After that, in order to have a better idea of the hospital care system and organization, the visit continued to the laboratory, hospital rooms, main kitchen, rehab and traumatology, emergency room, operating rooms. The tour at the Hospital ended with a visit to the Museum and with a delicious lunch.

Questions and answers session
Visiting the Hospital. Selene Cordara and Dr. Meirovich
Operating Rooms Section. Dr. Luis Simes and Selene Cordara
Dr. Simes, Dr. Meirovich, Dr. Medvedev, Luis Falcón
Dr. Simes, Lic. Rocio Cabaleiro, Selene Cordara, Dr. Meirovich
Dr. Simes and Dr. Medvedev
At the Hospital Museum
Lunch is served

Group picture
We would like to give a special thanks to the Dr. Cosme Argerich Hospital of Buenos Aires and all the people involved in the organization for their hospitality. It was a great and very rewarding experience.
After lunch prof. Medvedev, Luis Falcón, Dr. Meirovich and Selene Cordara went to the main campus of the Universidad Barceló (Las Heras) to meet with the Dean Dr. Héctor A. Barceló, where a cooperation agreement between the two Universities was signed.

Signing the cooperation agreement. Dr. Héctor A. Barceló and Dr. Oleg Medvedev
Finally we all went to the other campus where the Conferences Program started:
“GNU Health: Benefits of Free Software in Public Health” by Luis Falcón – GNU Solidario –
“Latest Developments In Pharmacology and Research in Latin America” by. Dr. Roberto Baistrocchi, Dr. Aldo Perusso, Dr. Ionathan Meirovich, Dr. Crisitna Rilo – Universidad Barceló –
“Remote-Nutrition: Using new Technologies applied to Education” by Laura Pets and Sofia Goldy – Universidad Barceló –
“Public Health” by Dr. Hector Lombardo Lombardo, former Argentina Minister of Health.
“Current State of Medical Education in Russia” by Dr. Oleg Medvedev – Faculty of Fundamental Medicine –
Luis Falcón and Dr. Medvedev
Luis Falcón – GNU Solidario –
Luis Falcón presenting GNU Health
Prof. Dr. Adrian Barceló and Luis Falcón
Questions and answers
Luis Falcón and Dr. Medvedev at the closing session
Laura Pets, Sofia Goldy, Dr. Meirovich, Dr. Cristina Riló, Dr. Medvedev
Dr. Meirovich, former minister of health Dr. H. Lombardo, Dr. Medvedev
Dr. Medvedev presentation
Dr. Medvedev
Dr. Medvedev showed a great mobile ECG and real-time cardiac monitoring devices (seen on to of the table)

The university also gave us a chance to visit the Nutrition Department, the Library, the Anatomy Lab, the Anatomy Museum, different labs and a classroom.

It has been a very intensive day, full of emotions and knowledge. We were honored to meet Prof. Oleg and its delegation. We are pretty sure this is going to be the first step for future knowledge and business exchanges.
Our special thanks to:
Dr. Luis Simes (Universidad Barceló)
Dr. Ionathan Meirovich (Universidad Barceló)
Dr. Cristina Riló (Universidad Barceló)
Lic. Rocio Cabaleiro (Universidad Barceló)
Dr. José Luis Ciucchi (Hospital Militar “Dr. Cosme Argerich”)
Dr. Oscar Regalado (Hospital Militar “Dr. Cosme Argerich”)
Lic. Viviana Russeaux (Hospital Militar “Dr. Cosme Argerich”)

GNU Health at Paraguay Ministry of Public Health

26 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by in GNU Health, GNU solidario, HMIS, Public Health

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I just got back from Paraguay, where we were invited by Mr. Nicolás Caballero from the Paraguayan Government to talk about GNU Health at the Social Security Institute (IPS – Instituto de Previsión Social ) and Ministry of Public Health .

It’s great  to see how Paraguay is adopting Free Software in the Public Health System, working as a team, from the Presidency office, the Social Security Institute (IPS) and the Ministry of Public Health (MSPBS).
I noticed how the government conceives Health informatics as a public good, an integral component  of Public Health.   

At Dr. Emilio Cubas Hospital. The largest health center in Paraguay

We spent two non-stop days in Asunción, capital of Paraguay, visiting the different health centers and having meetings with health officials. In those meetings, Nicolas Caballero explained the latest and concrete resolutions that the Paraguayan government is taking on Free Software adoption in public health care. 

Nicolas Caballero and Social Security Institute (IPS) members

Luis Falcón, Nurhizam Safie, Cristina Melgosa, Rosa González and Ana Ayala (director of Informatics)  from IPS

After visiting the different health centers, we had a meeting with the information system team, with whom we discussed the technical details about GNU Health, such as the programming environment, security, scalability and reporting. 
Explaining technical details about GNU Health at the General Hospital
At Clinica Nanawa

Dr. Nurhizam Safie, from the United Nations University, Institute of Global Health explained the partnership with GNU Solidario, and implementation cases of GNU Health in Asia, Africa and Latinamerica.
Nurhizam stressed the commitment of the UNU – the academic branch of the United Nations – with GNU Health and the implementation in the Paraguayan Public Health system, as a way of delivering universality in health care. Today UNU provides training and capacity building in GNU Health implementations.  

Dr. Nurhizam Safie from United Nations University, talking about the UNU commitment to the project
Part of the Informatics department team at Central Hospital led by Rosa González
Ms. Rosa González, Social Security Institute chief of the informatics department, gave us an extensive tour throughout different health institutions and their departments. Among them: Pharmacy, Laboratory, Appointments, Inpatient administration and Imaging.
Rosa explained to her team that GNU Health is licensed under GPL, the GNU General Public License, so they have all the freedom to use and custumize GNU Health to fit their needs. I stressed the importance of working with the community, so the health informatics team can always ask questions in public forums and share with us their developments and bug fixes. GNU Health is the result of many contributions and feedback  from an international community and multi-disciplinary teams.
At the Geriatric Hospital

Dr Nurhizam, Cristina Melgosa and Rosa González at IPS entrance hall

On Friday afternoon we were invited by Dr. Graciela Gamarra, General Director of Strategic Health Information Systems, from the Health Ministry (Ministerio de Salud Pública y Bienestar Social). They showed us their current epidemiology systems that are being built on Free Software.
We also discussed on integrating all the current systems with GNU Health, and link it to the current epidemiology engine.
Taking a break

I want to thank the government of Paraguay for inviting us and for the hospitality, they made us feel at home.

But most importantly, I want to thank the government of Paraguay for the commitment with Free Software in Public Health. Latin America is today a leader in the adoption of Free Software in public administrations, delivering equity and universality in health care for their habitants.

Last but not least, thanks to Richard Stallman, who referred GNU Health to Nicolás Caballero , chief technology innovation officer of the Presidency office.  Thanks Nicolás for making this possible !

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 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) , OSOR

  • Brazil: Portal do Software Público Brasileiro (SPB)

GNU Health 1.4.1 released

30 Sunday Oct 2011

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GNU Solidario is happy to announce the release of GNU Health 1.4.1, in which we have incorporated support for PyPI, the Python Package Index

This version is compatible with the latest tryton release (2.2.0). Now GNU Health is also a set of python modules, fully integrated to the Python community.

Thanks to the magic of pip, and the help of the Tryton community ( Cedric Krier, et al ), installing the latest GNU Health version is as easy as running

pip install –user trytond_health_profile

This will install the requirements ( the tryton server and all the standard GNU Health modules ) automatically and in your “$HOME/.local” directory. I will be updating the installation process at the wiki today.
The main site is the GNU Savannah where all the development and discussion takes place.

There are many improvements, bug fixes and news features, some of them :

  • CalDav compatibility (it allows complex calendar views and settings for appointments and hospitalizations)
  • Support for JSON RPC protocol
  • Fully Tryton 2.2 compatible
  • Enhanced Medication form
  • New Medicament categories
  • Medication pregnancy category
  • Included the latest WHO essential medicines (17th edition)
  • New translation engine (to be used with .po format)
  • Improve Laboratory model and functionality

Thanks to all of you for contributing with your code, testing, translating and documenting the project !

About GNU Health

GNU Health (formerly known as “Medical”) is a free (GPL license), 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 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 :

GNU Health 1.4.1 released !

29 Saturday Oct 2011

Posted by in GNU Health, GNU solidario, HMIS, Public Health

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I’m happy to announce the release of GNU Health 1.4.1, in which we have incorporated support for PyPI, the Python Package Index

This version is compatible with the latest tryton release (2.2.0). Now GNU Health is also a set of python modules, fully integrated to the Python community.

Thanks to the magic of pip, and the help of the Tryton community ( Cedric Krier, et al ), installing the latest GNU Health version is as easy as running

pip install –user trytond_health_profile

This will install the requirements ( the tryton server and all the standard GNU Health modules ) automatically and in your “$HOME/.local” directory. I will be updating the installation process at the wiki today.
The main site is the GNU Savannah where all the development and discussion takes place.

There are many improvements, bug fixes and news features, some of them :

  • CalDav compatibility (it allows complex calendar views and settings for appointments and hospitalizations)
  • Support for JSON RPC protocol
  • Fully Tryton 2.2 compatible
  • Enhanced Medication form
  • New Medicament categories
  • Medication pregnancy category
  • Included the latest WHO essential medicines (17th edition)
  • New translation engine (to be used with .po format)
  • Improve Laboratory model and functionality

Thanks to all of you for contributing with your code, testing, translating and documenting the project !


About GNU Health

GNU Health (formerly known as “Medical”) is a free (GPL license), 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 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 :

Free Software versus Open Source: Tryton vs Odoo (openERP)

08 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in Libre Software

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I could write many pages, but it all comes down to one concept: ethics.
When I talk about Free Software, I talk about not only about freedom, but also community and good will from the software author. The latter probably is the most important one.
You write Free Software because you want to contribute to the community. It’s an act of social activism. It’s about sharing and helping out.
This April I got a mail from Chris Larsen, a doctor working in Rwanda, where he was asking OpenERP the scripts to upgrade to 6.x, since they needed to have the latest Medical version. The response he got was that the scripts were not publicly available anymore. If they wanted to upgrade, they would have to pay a support contract to OpenERP. This is the typical example of a vendor lock-in. They change the rules (even the license) and then the user becomes their prisoner.
That very same day I started the implementation of GNU Health (previously called “medical”) in the Tryton platform. Believe me, this was frustrating and it meant a lot of work, but I had to guarantee the future for the health centers.
That effort paid off. Today Health (GNU Health) is an official GNU package (health.gnu.org), the United Nations University has adopted it, and everyday health centers are downloading it from the GNU official site. Obviously, the GNU Health version that today is an official GNU package runs under Tryton, a community-based project.
I just got an email today that a health center in RDC ( Democratic Republic of Congo ) after testing the functionality, will be using GNU Health under Tryton.
Open Source has become the refuge for some speculators, who apply digital lock-ins, by, for example, not releasing the upgrade scripts. This is not fair. It’s not ethical. It’s not thinking about the community. It’s being selfish and greedy. Lastly, it’s not respecting the underlying software.
OpenERP and Tryton need Python, Postgresql and GNU/Linux. If Python or Postgresql would impose a support contract fee to be able to upgrade, they would not exist. So, none of us have the right to break the evolution chain. 
So, a word of advice . Make sure you use Free Software. This is more than just a license. They should be community-based projects.
Some signs of warning to keep in mind : Avoid software that has a “buy” link instead of a “download”, or “1 month free”. Those are signs of vendor lock-in strategies. Also, be wary of “Commercial Open Source”, projects, led by private corporations. They are usually there only for their money and don’t care about you. 
If you are a programmer, you can – and you should – make money from Free Software. You can make a good income by giving training sessions and implementing your software. Free Software is both ethical and a great way of making your living !
As the author of GNU Health, and as the president of GNU Solidario, my commitment is to the community and the underprivileged, so rest assured that I will always suggest you the best environment for your health center. Now that GNU Health is an official GNU package, our mission is supported and backed up by the Free Software Foundation and the United Nations.

Update (Apr 2016) : Please read Richard Stalman statement against the use of Odoo on his post “When Free Software depends on Nonfree” https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/when-free-depends-on-nonfree