[Health] Introductions and more information

[Holly Ladd]

Good morning (Boston time!)

I have just joined this list and would like to give you a little 
background on our work and find out more about any health 
implementations underway.

We are AED-SATELLIFE - an NGO that has worked in the field of health 
information and technology for over 20 years.  We disseminate health 
content for people working in the developing world and have several 
projects on the ground in various countries using technology to expand 
access to information and to improve reporting.  In 170 remote health 
centers in Uganda and 100 in Mozambique we are using handheld computers 
and an access point that transfers data via the cellular networks to 
support weekly and monthly facility data reporting (utilization, disease 
surveillance, vital stats, supply management, etc) to a central server  
in the capital and then sends the combined data from all the district 
reports back to the appropriate district health office.  We also use 
this system to send out continuing education three time a week, articles 
for the daily newspapers, memos from the district health office or 
ministry of health.  We have just begun to collect daily register data 
from the health centers in Uganda in addition to weekly and monthly 
reports.  We are working in health centers with very little 
infrastructure and relatively unskilled staff.  They, by and large, do 
not keep individual patient records. 


While the PDAs work well, we would like to try using an energy efficient 
laptop (given that in most sites there is no reliable electric y beyond 
the solar chargers).  We have a good deal of experience with what works 
and does not work on the ground. We also have a lot of experience 
working with front line health care workers and have a good sense of 
what they need, can use and can support. 

As I said at the opening, i would really like to hear if there are any 
health deployments of the OLPC yet, if so where and who I can talk to 
about your experience to date.


regards,

Holly Ladd
VP & Center Director
AED-SATELLIFE Center for Health Information and Technology
30 California Street
Watertwon, MA USA 02472
www.healthnet.org