[Health] McMaster Global Health and OLPC

[Nicholas Doiron]

Hi Michael!  Here's my input on these questions:

   - Why the XO should be purchased (for ex. Education, health, etc)

The XO laptops were designed for classrooms in demanding parts of the world.
 They are tough, power-efficient, and readable in direct sunlight.  The
solid-state drive and lack of vents help it survive drops, dusty conditions,
and humidity which would cut short the lifespans of most other computers.

Software applications for the XO laptop are free and open source.  If a
school or clinic later receives technology such as Intel Classmate or
recycled Windows and Linux computers, the same applications can be run on
those computers using Sugar on a Stick.


   - How the XO can be used in a clinical/health care setting (very
   important!) in a remote/rural environment

An XO can run Frontline SMS, so it can probably run FrontlineSMS Medic,
too.
http://www.olpcnews.com/use_cases/community/frontline_sms_on_olpc_xo.html
 and http://medic.frontlinesms.com/

Clinics with proper training and well-designed software can save time and
become make more accurate reports to public health offices with computers
replacing paperwork.  Are there programs for the XO which would let workers
collect information quickly and easily?  What information do the public
health offices expect of clinics?

An XO 1.5 can do video chat.  Does the location have a suitable internet
connection?

Once enough clinics have XOs, you could use their health information network
to measure more significant health trends / biosurveillance, which has
proven useful in India and Sri Lanka.  In your report, compare prices of
full-keyboard mobile phones and data plans to an internet-connected XO.  An
SMS can store only basic

   - Support for the XO laptop and training (training for the students which
   I can help with) and technical support

Support and training are common problems.  Most primary schools in the US
and Canada would balk at the cost of Linux support -- now you are asking for
support of a niche version of Linux in remote locations.  ilovemyxo sells
parts, repair centers exist in some parts of the world, and questions to
help at laptop.org are answered by volunteers.

Regards,
Nick Doiron

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 8:27 AM, Michael Mak <makamizz at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> My name is Michael Mak and I am a third year BHSc student, Global Health
> Specialization at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.
>
> There is a growing interest from McMaster BHSc, Global Health
> Specialization in purchasing XO laptops to use and distribute for different
> NGOs that student join from the specialization.  With more attention driven
> to OLPC after my trip to Canada's North and another student's Masters thesis
> on OLPC in Ghana, my facilitator would like me to write a proposal to my
> assistant dean to spend the necessary $25 000 to purchase 100 laptops for
> next year's cohort.  Because that is quite a sum, I would love any help I
> can get in providing a convincing argument on the importance of getting the
> XOs in global health and development.  The health component and how the XO
> can be used for health practices (such as education, or even for diagnostic
> and/or electronic medical records) is an extremely vital one, especially
> since we are a health science discipline.
>
> Here are some points that I will need help and more information on:
>
>
>    - Why the XO should be purchased (for ex. Education, health, etc)
>    - How the XO can be used in a clinical/health care setting (very
>    important!) in a remote/rural environment
>    - Support for the XO laptop and training (training for the students
>    which I can help with) and technical support
>    - Hopefully a long-term partnership with OLPC
>
>
> Thanks so much everyone, I look forward to hearing your responses on the
> matter.
>
> Michael Mak
> BHSc III, Global Health Specialization
> Keewaytinook Okimakanak / K-NET Services
> OLPC Intern
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Health mailing list
> Health at lists.laptop.org
> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/health
>
>
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