ICT in Health
AED-SATELLIFE and its HealthNet affiliates implement a variety of projects in
partnership with other organizations, institutions, development agencies,
and donors who are also committed to improving health throughout the world.
Our current and most recently completed projects have focused on using handheld
computers for a variety of purposes in diverse environments.
Moving Information into
the Hands of Those Who Heal
Handheld computers (also known as PDAs) and emerging wireless technologies
provide us with unprecedented opportunities to move information out to where
it is needed most. We can now package local and international health and
medical information and put it in the hands of health workers in environments
where electricity, telephone lines and books are not readily available, and
the Internet may still be years away.
Handheld computers are also powerful tools for data collection, providing
rapid access to information that policy makers and health planners need to
respond to and prevent disease outbreaks, practice sound resource management,
and track public health issues.
AED-SATELLIFE has conducted a successful
trial of this technology in East Africa. Our work with health workers in
multiple settings demonstrated that handheld computers work in this environment,
can be easily adopted by new users, and provide a cost-effective alternative
to personal computers for many functions. Most importantly, they fill a
critical gap in the information chain.
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