Mobile devices loaded with digital medical libraries and tools will support safer and pain-free surgeries in Kenya, South Sudan and Somaliland
READING, Mass., Nov. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- New graduates from the Kijabe Medical Center's anesthesiology program are heading back to their remote villages equipped with vast and on-demand medical knowledge, thanks to a donation of 25 tablets from Health eVillages, a program founded by global healthcare activist Donato Tramuto and Physicians Interactive (PI), in partnership with the not-for-profit Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization.
These medical professionals are among the first in the region to be trained in anesthesiology. With digital consulting tools from Health eVillages in hand, the graduates can practice anesthesiology in their home countries of Kenya, South Sudan and Somaliland without a physician in attendance. The donated devices are equipped with SIM card capabilities to assure connectivity in regions without internet coverage.
Previously, Health eVillages donated more than 20 devices to the program; with this latest donation, the program is now supported with more than 45 mobile devices to aid safe, painless surgery in difficult environments.
"The devices Health eVillages provide replaces the need – which could never be fully met – for a stockpile of medical books to perform anesthesiology-assisted surgeries in East Africa," said Mark Newton, MD, chief anesthesiologist at Kijabe Hospital. "In addition, workers use the tablets to capture point-of-care, real-time data about their cases."
Newton added, "This can help track important outcomes, such as a drop in maternal mortality, in regions where medical information is notoriously difficult to record and archive."
The Health eVillages partnership in Kijabe supports the Department of Anesthesiology at the Kijabe Medical Center, a 260-bed facility that draws patients, clinicians and students from across East Africa. The hospital's 18-month anesthesiology program is sponsored in part by the Vanderbilt University Department of Anesthesiology, which is also involved in the development of the Safe Surgery Network throughout East Africa.
"Health eVillages partners with healthcare organizations in some of the most remote areas of the world, where a lack of infrastructure and other medical resources are longstanding challenges to performing safe surgery. We are thrilled to be collaborating with Dr. Newton supporting his great mission to ensure a more just world for all," noted Donato Tramuto, Chairman and Founder of Health eVillages. "These persistent problems can be considerably overcome, however, when workers from the regions are trained and equipped with digital tools, including mobile medical libraries."
About Health eVillages
Health eVillages, a program of the not-for-profit Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Physicians Interactive, provides state-of-the-art mobile health technology including medical reference and clinical decision-support resources to medical professionals in the most challenging clinical environments around the world. More information can be found at http://www.healthevillages.org/.
About Physicians Interactive
Physicians Interactive engages and empowers consumers and healthcare professionals with instant access to content, solutions and data to improve health outcomes. The company provides payers, retailers and life science companies with sophisticated digital engagement solutions to reach, message, educate and change behaviors.
Physicians Interactive is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (known outside the U.S. and Canada as MSD). With its own independent employees, editorial process, business and financial operations, and governance, PI maintains its information and the confidentiality of its customers' information independent from its parent company. More information can be found at www.PhysiciansInteractive.com.
Media Contacts:
Tim Boivin
Amendola Communications for Physicians Interactive
224.209.6495
[email protected]
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SOURCE Physicians Interactive
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