Delgado A, Gorry C

Language: English
References: 8
Page: 6-8
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Cuba has been building a national strategy using information and communication technologies (ICTs) for health since the establishment of the National Medical Sciences Information Center (CNICM) in 1965. Back then, vital statistics and health data – considered a cornerstone of the country’s new universal health system – were transmitted by hand or over the phone. As technology grew more sophisticated over the next 30 years, microprocessors and computers were integrated into the process. In 1992, reeling from economic crisis, Cuba founded the national health telematics network known as INFOMED (www.sld.cu), betting on the strategy that ICTs could be used to improve population health at low cost. From these initial efforts until today, the country has followed a policy to build and strengthen a virtual health information infrastructure.

REFERENCES

1. Delgado A, Vidal ML. Informática en la salud pública cubana. Rev Cubana Salud Pública. 2006;32(3).

2. Mathers CD, Ma Fat D, Inoue M, Rao C, Lopez AD. Counting the dead and what they died from: an assessment of the global status of cause of death data. Bull World Health Organ 2005;83:171-7.

3. World Health Organization. World Health Report 2006: Working Together for Health. 2006; Geneva.

4. Personal Communication. December 2, 2007.

5. WHO Global Observatory for eHealth. Building Foundations for eHealth: Progress of Member States. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2006.

6. INFOMED Glosario [homepage on the Internet]. Havana: INFOMED; c1999-2007 [updated 2007 Nov 11; cited 7 Dec 2007]. Alfabetización informacional; [1 screen]. (Translated by authors). Available from: http:// INFOMED20.sld.cu/wiki/doku.php/alfabetizacion_informacional

7. Telemedicine has been performed successfully in Cuba, notably in bilateral surgical collaborations between the Carlos Finlay Orthopedic Hospital and the Ramón Pando Ferrer Ophthalmology Institute, both in Havana, and Indiana University.

8. Alexa: The Web Information Company [homepage on the Internet]. City: Aleza; c1996-2007 [updated 2007 Dec 7; cited 2007 Dec 7]. Traffic Details for WHO, INFOMED, PAHO; [4 screens]. Available from: www.alexa.com