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WiRED On CNN
By Krista Glen
WiRED, Volunteer Editor
and Writer
On Friday, July 21,
2007, WiRED’s
telemedicine program in
Iraq was the topic on
one of America’s
most-watched news
programs, CNN’s Anderson
Cooper 360.
 The
story focused on the
significant impact that
WiRED’s low-budget,
medical education
programs are having in
Iraq, in comparison to
some large projects with
budgets reaching $150
million that have
“essentially fallen
apart,” as described by
Cooper.
WiRED remained resilient
throughout the war,
spending relatively
little, and continues to
empower Iraqi doctors to
save lives by giving
them access to the
latest medical
information by way of
its Medical Information
Centers and telemedicine
program providing
real-time lectures,
seminars and patient
consultations.
Praise for WiRED’s
programs came from
doctors, both Iraqi and
American, as well as
from California
Congressman Tom Lantos,
who is Chair of the
House Foreign Relations
Committee. Lantos said
of the program, “It is
one of the most
cost-effective, probably
the most cost-effective
and intelligent way of
helping the Iraqi
people.”
Karen Hughes,
Undersecretary of State
for Public Diplomacy and
Public Affairs, was
quoted by CNN, in a
speech, saying, “I
believe that this type
of medical diplomacy,
medical outreach is one
of the most effective
ways that we can reach
out to people across our
world.”
Iraqi nursing instructor
Bedia An-Najib said the
program “was very, very
beneficial and was very
good for us.” Dr. Craig
Sable, from the
Children’s National
Medical Center,
reaffirmed the
importance of the
program, saying, “I
think it was much more
helpful than even we
thought.”
WiRED has been providing
medical information in
Iraq since May, 2003.
Initially, the
organization supplied
electronic medical
libraries in 39 medical
schools and teaching
hospitals across the
country. Early in 2006,
it launched a
telemedicine program
that enabled live,
interactive sessions
between leading medical
educators in the United
States and doctors and
medical students in
Iraq.
WiRED partners with
Children’s National
Medical Center in
Washington, D.C. for
programs in pediatrics;
the University of
California, San
Francisco for adult
medicine; San Francisco
State University for
nursing training. Grand
Rounds (patient review
sessions) have been
provided by
Massachusetts General
Hospital and California
Pacific Medical Center.
WiRED’s program in the
next year will focus on
women’s and children’s
health. Statistics
reveal that breast
cancer and other cancers
and heart ailments are
on the rise for women in
Iraq. Further, according
to a May, 2007 report by
Save the Children, “Some
122,000 Iraqi children
died in 2005 before
reaching their fifth
birthday. More than half
of these deaths were
among newborn babies in
the first month of life.
. . . Iraq has made the
least progress (of any
country) in reducing
child deaths since
1990.”
In addition to funding
provided by the U.S.
Department of State,
WiRED has received
support for work in Iraq
from the Medtronic
Foundation, Pfizer, and
the Christopher Reeve
Foundation.
See video of the CNN
story on WiRED's
Press page.
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