Dear all, I firmly and honestly believe that we can put up a BETTER e-health system than Google although their support and collaboration would be appreciated. I know for a fact that we can implement a system based on OpenMRS that has been customized for the Kenyan laws and regulations. Even the pharmacy component would be able to ensure there were fewer drug shortage at the village level. These systems have to be used by medical personnel with little or no ICT training. They will have to be trained which leads to employment for local Kenyans. I can tell you from experience that this will be no small task, but will significantly increase the amount of data we have on our national health situation. In addition, as I have spend a time in rural hospitals and clinics it is necessary at the same time to deliver educational materials for continuing medical education and certification to the staff with incentives. If we really want to CHANGE the medical system in Kenya using ICT it is critical that we examine the plethora of factors which reduce the efficiency and effectiveness of the current healthcare system. So I have been testing equipment and toying with the idea of low cost touch Android tablets with Community healthcare data. This would begin the process of data collection as our current medical records systems does not gather a medical history and rather in many cases gives each patient a number which is put in a paper file and is stacked to the ceiling. If we start from a different approach and empower the community health workers and increase the power of the medical personnel to utilize technology to improve medical care we will have a entirely different outcome than the current high maternal mortality, high child mortality, and poorly trained staff. This project that SHOULD be presented as a joint venture with local talent. We have the skills and resources necessary to do it, or else we are all a bunch of big fat liars who keep saying Kenya ICT this and Kenya ICT that but can't really pull off anything to make our country stronger. My friend Paul has come up with the model attached for a system. It can be a starting point, I am sure out there somewhere even within the iHub itself are most of the components and people required. The question is are we going to be given a chance? Best, Crystal On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 7:39 PM, aki <aki275@gmail.com> wrote:
Yes, Gentlemen & Ladies. One of the interesting things that I learnt from the kictanet thread is that the govt is circled with brokers waiting as vultures to pounce on any govt projects. The same way that area chief's ( locals ) made colonialism successful through selling out freedom fighters and their locations, these brokers/vendors don't give a damn about the long terms effects on the economy. For them its about being in a position to supply a vendor product that meets the specs of the project and become successful enterprenuers. The rest of kenyans in the dev sector can go and jump off a bridge, for all they care.
So now it is War! ( In a tech sense, not literally ) :-)
Now, we have a great chance to do something about this and such times make me regret I wish I had enough time to have completed my programming study so as to be able to approach any commercial projects. However, all is not lost and I share this idea with you. Whether you are on open source or even proprietory, good at programming and creating systems as those required in the e-Health project, no matter what platform used and as long as the*core engine is done locally * whether to run on IBM servers etc, we are on the first steps towards building on e-Govt projects and to prove that all the bulloks of shoody contractors is just talk to avoid local development. Do you mean all the innovators at iHub ( upto 3000 of them ) are shoddy?!
iHub has an army of talent, and so do other software developer companies. Is it possible to treat this e-Health system as a joint project? I saw the vendor participation fees as $4500, pretty steep for most local dev companies so am thinking of ways of how we can raise this amount so that the joint venture can present its local version of the system with all the bells and whistles.
Do we stand a chance and take back what is ours and give you the chance to be the next high tech group from KE?
If anyone has the specs of the e-Health proposal or vision that has been laid out under govt/foreign, it would help to know. What we know for sure is that such a system should have SMS involved somewhere, web portals, security access and mobility.
Me thots, please give you kind attention to this thread and see how you can help/make it happen. :-)
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