In January, WiRED International received a $50,000 grant from the Medtronic Foundation to support organizational elements of the International Telemedicine Network (ITN). The ITN is a consortium of 13 medical schools, teaching hospitals, research institutes, and non-profit organizations partnering to improve world health by providing medical education to healthcare communities in developing regions of the world.
During a two-day conference at the Medical City Center in Baghdad this week, several hundred Iraqi physicians and government officials met to discuss building a Center of Excellence (COE) for the study and practice of medicine. The main goal of the COE Medical and Public Health Unit is to increase medical and public health expertise in the Middle East.
WiRED International hosted a meeting at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC on September 25th, bringing together telemedicine experts from 12 leading medical, technology, and nonprofit organizations from across the country [see sidebar]. The consortium participants explored ways they could pool their skills, experience, and resources through an International Telemedicine Network (ITN) to deliver medical education and information systems to the poorest developing countries in the world.
Read Dr. Gary Selnow’s address to the Children’s National Medical Center ITN Organizational Meeting held on September 25, 2008.
Los Países Centroamericanos le Dan la Bienvenida a los Nuevos Centros WiRED
In a whirlwind three days in August, WiRED opened Medical Information Centers (MICs) in Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. Ribbon cutting ceremonies at the three new MIC openings brought out doctors, nurses, hospital administrators and many celebrants from the local communities.
In June 2008, WiRED, its IT partners, and the ICDDR,B provided critical medical information to Iraqi doctors via videoconference and training videos to help contain an outbreak of cholera.
On June 24, 2003, WiRED International launched its first Medical Information Center (MIC) in Iraq. Now, five years later, WiRED celebrates the anniversary of this launch, having installed more than 30 MICs throughout the country and video conferencing facilities in four Iraqi cities.
The following stories, sent to us by CHIC visitors, staffers and community members, reflect the anguish and sorrow, and the hope and joy experienced among those familiar with WiRED’s Centers. These recollections describe the value of WiRED’s programs, and show how WiRED is offering an opportunity to those who have lost all optimism to once again experience hope.
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.