The EU's policy framework in Global Health brings together internal and external policies around the objective of improving the EU collective contribution to global health and aims to contribute to improve governance at global and national levels. In this context, the EU also promotes the use of ICT, including eHealth.  

 

Additionally, in the context of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) and its Partnership on Science, Information Society and Space, eHealth has been identified as a priority domain and a political commitment. As far as implementation is concerned, the objective is to promote coordination among all public-private stakeholders, in order to avoid fragmentation of initiatives, dilution of resources and therefore maximising impact on the ground.

 

With these aims in mind, the European Commission, together with input from the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth, organizes a Global eHealth Strategy Symposium at Med-e-Tel 2011 which will provide an intercultural and multidisciplinary framework in order to:

• promote policy dialogue on how eHealth can address issues and challenges in the field of health in developing countries;
• analyze transferability of evidences, barriers and factors for a useful deployment of eHealth.

The symposium, scheduled for April 7th, will present more details on the above EU policy and strategy and on the role that eHealth can play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Furthermore, representatives from the Ministries of Health in Rwanda and Moldova are presenting their national strategies and initiatives. 

 

In looking at evidence and good practice, the symposium will highlight experiences of the millenia2015 International Working Group on "Women and eHealth", the MedNET telemedicine project in Latin-America, mHealth in Senegal and also feature the 3 winners of a European Commission award for presentations from developing countries to Med-e-Tel and the Global eHealth Strategy Symposium:

Health Help Center (HHC) - 24x7 Accesses to Healthcare Services In Bhutan Through a Toll Free Number 112

Gaki Tshering

Project Manager, Ministry of Health, Bhutan

 

Demonstrating Potential Role of ICTs in Improving Management and Use of ART Medicines in Resource Limited Settings

Sarah Chuchu

Deputy Chief Pharmacist, Ministry of Medical Services, Kenya

 

Tele-Safe Motherhood Pilot Project in Rolpa District of Nepal

Shishir Dahal

Rolpa District Hospital, Ministry of Health, Nepal

 

Details of the symposium are available here. 

Registration for Med-e-Tel 2011 can still be done at the early bird rates until March 11th. Submit your registration now and be part of one of the few truly global networking events for telemedicine and eHealth.

 

 

Registration includes access to all conference sessions, to the expo and networking area, to the Welcome Reception on April 6th and Sponsor/Attendee Reception on April 7th and provides you with all conference materials.

For any questions related to registration and participation, contact info@medetel.eu or call the Med-e-Tel secretariat at +32 2 269 84 56 or +32 478 59 36 99.

The Luxembourg Convention Bureau has negotiated special rates for Med-e-Tel participants at various hotels in Luxembourg. Click here for a list of rooms and rates.

The room contingent that they had available is almost sold out. If you are considering to participate at Med-e-Tel and need to book a room, do so now in order to guarantee room availability and to obtain the listed rates.

A reservation form can be downloaded from here. 

 

If you are flying to Luxembourg, please note that the Air France/KLM group offer discounted airfare. Click here for details, or go to www.airfranceklm-globalmeetings.com and enter Event ID 11176AF.

Companies developing the latest technologies to improve healthcare in Wales - ranging from remote monitoring of patients to accessing medical records from a mobile - can now benefit from a new innovation centre in Swansea.

 

The eHealth Industries Innovation (ehi²) Centre is based at Swansea University's Medical School and is able to offer companies access to a unique combination of clinical, software and systems development, NHS data, clinical trials and evaluation expertise. 

 

It provides companies with a range of support to develop, test and validate new products and services to satisfy the demands of the NHS and clinical users. ehi² is the first centre in the UK to offer this level of support.

 

Funded through the Welsh Assembly Government's Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) programme, this EU supported initiative is designed to stimulate collaboration between academic centres and industry to develop and commercialise new products, processes and services.

 

Lesley Griffiths, Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, said: "Our investment in this Centre will support businesses across Wales to target what is a rapidly expanding global market. It gives Welsh companies a competitive edge creating significant growth and employment opportunities while also developing innovative products and technologies to improve healthcare."

The ehi² Centre will provide access to Swansea's Health Informatics Research Laboratories that have the latest information communications technologies needed to deliver a range of health care products and services. The labs can also recreate any number of healthcare scenarios for testing products and services - such as a patient's home; GP and hospital reception areas and consulting rooms; hospital wards; telecare and out of hours centres.

 

David Ford, Director at Swansea University's School of Medicine said ehi² represents a unique, sustainable and commercially valuable asset to the Welsh economy, building on the significant public-private investment already made at Swansea's Institute of Life Science. "We can help companies create the evidence they need to prove their products are clinically and cost effective, and verify that their products or services can work alongside others in complex healthcare environments. The new Centre is unique in its ability to support substantial advancement in this area providing an opportunity for Wales to become an international focus for the eHealth sector."

Meet ehi² representives in the Med-e-Tel 2011 expo area and hear from David Ford as well as from colleagues in other European Regions in a session on "Regional Initiatives in Telemedicine and eHealth" at Med-e-Tel 2011.

The International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH) is the international federation of national Telemedicine/eHealth associations, research institutions, care provider organizations, companies and individuals. ISfTeH is the organizer of the Med-e-Tel conference and is an NGO in Official Relations with WHO.

Member news
Several student members of the ISfTeH who are working at the 

Telemedicine Laboratory of the Microgravity Centre, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil have published a chapter in the new publication on "Biomedical Engineering, Trends, Research and Technologies" (published by InTech), aiming to present the activities of their Telemedicine Laboratory and to discuss eHealth initiatives around the globe, emphasizing the benefits of the use of telecommunication and computer technologies in remote and deprived areas, where specialised medical care is limited or non-existent. Based on the experience of this Lab in the areas of eResearch, eLearning and eHealth Assistance, a review of virtual tools used in academic activities and of telemedicine endeavours applied for the identification and treatment of a broad range of diseases worldwide is presented.

Relevant eHealth terminology is also introduced to help the reader gain a better understanding of the concepts described in this text. Click here to access the chapter.  

 

Founded in January 1991 as American Medical Development, AMD Global Telemedicine has recently celebrated its 20th year as the world's leading supplier of medical technology for clinical telemedicine. AMD has achieved this milestone with its quality products, effective services and a respected commitment to its customers and partners. It has matured as a provider of medical devices, and its portfolio has expanded from telemedicine devices to including a complete offering of telemedicine encounter management solutions comprised of software solutions, clinical configurations, program consultation services and training programs.

Throughout the past two decades, AMD's solutions have been installed at application sites ranging from NASA's Space Shuttle, to the North Pole, to cross-town Manhattan. Having grown to over 6,100 installations in 80 countries around the globe, AMD has delivered readily accessible healthcare for the first time to places like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Greenland and the Maldives.

"In the 20 years we have been in business, AMD has seen the field of telemedicine grow and evolve. In the early 1990's a video conferencing system would consume a small room. Today the massive video systems of the early 1990's have been replaced with smaller more efficient systems and now PC's can control telemedicine applications and deliver HD video and images," stated AMD's President Steve Normandin.

Read the full press release here. 

 

In the previous Med-e-Tel newsletter we reported about the fact that the Armenian Association of Telemedicine (AATM) successfully completed a pilot telemedicine project in Nagorno-Karabakh which provided multi-specialty teleconsultations to a number of local patients with various conditions presenting a diagnostic and clinical challenge, and thus significantly optimized their management. A more detailed report of this project is now available here.

Events

As every year, Med-e-Tel 2011 will also again feature a regional (francophone) seminar. This year's seminar, scheduled for April 7th, will actually be a training session devoted to "gerontechnology". Gerontechnologies improve the daily lives of older people and their families and carers and improve overall well-being.

The training targets any organization or person that is dealing with care for older people (at home, in a community setting or in a hospital) and interested to learn more about gerontechnology.

The objectives of the training are to:

• present the different technologies and their implications both at home and in institutions
• learn about practical applications and realizations
• assist in the selection and investment decisions
• take important ethical issues into consideration

The training will be given by Michaël Carré, General Manager of Médialis and expert engineer in gerontechnology, accompanied by Christophe Martin of Sensatys. Additional contributors to the training session include Viviane von Döllen of Hëllef Doheem and José Luxen of HELP (both homecare and telecare service providers in Luxembourg).

Click here for details of the training session (in French). Companies interested in presenting their products and solutions in the frame of this event, contact info@medetel.eu.

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Training provided by:



Additional contributors: