ANTENA WIFIL Health care in rural areas of developing countries is often faced with many problems to cover the entire population, due in large part to the long distances that usually exist between patients and auxiliary personnel in the most remote from reference health centers. The EHAS Foundation (Hispanic American Health Link) is dedicated to implementing long-distance wireless networks that allow continuous and direct communication between the technical health personnel of the most isolated enclaves and the professional doctors of the reference centers. This improves the quality of care and reduces costs.
The director of the EHAS Foundation, Andr s Mart nez, explained to Positive News that the objective they have set is to improve health in rural areas very isolated from the country. Underdeveloped ones, mainly Latin America, through ICTs (information and communication technologies) . His work has earned him to be designated by Ashoka as one of the social entrepreneurs of 2009. It is not for less, since EHAS has improved the quality of medical assistance for more than 150, 000 people.
More than 170 health centers and posts in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Cuba already have communication networks installed by EHAS. Scientific research is very important in choosing the most appropriate technology. That is why we are associated with universities and academic centers. In Spain, we work with the Polytechnic University and the Rey Juan Carlos University, and in Latin America we also have entities such as the University of Cauca of Colombia, the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and the Argentine Foundation Fundatel . Stresses Martínez, who in turn is a professor at the Rey Juan Carlos University, where he teaches an official master's degree in telecommunication networks for developing countries.
EHAS mainly uses Wi-Fi systems with a range that can reach 100 kilometers away. These are wireless networks installed in remote areas where neither the cellular telephone nor the fixed one arrives, and in which it would be very expensive to bet on satellite communication. . These Wi-Fi networks can be used for many tasks. For example, they allow consulting possible diagnoses and treatments with the reference physician without the need for displacement, or exchange real-time epidemiological surveillance data, key to prevention actions. Another interesting possibility is the virtual training of technical personnel in remote health posts.
Telecommunication systems also allow for better coordination of urgent patient transfers between so-called health posts and medical reference centers. Health posts are usually located in the worst communicated areas, and are served by auxiliary personnel, health technicians, but do not have doctors. On the other hand, medical reference centers have professional doctors and adequate sanitary equipment. A fast communication between technicians and doctors can be vital when saving a life, given the important distances that may exist between populations and reference centers, as in the regions jungle, where often the only way to travel is through the rivers. The distance is sometimes such that it takes up to 20 hours to arrive navigating the river. The average time we have measured is 10 hours, says Martínez.
The effectiveness of all these measures has attracted the attention of the Ministries and regional governments, which are in fact investing in the implementation of these telecommunications systems. Looking ahead, EHAS hopes to expand its model in other regions of the world, mainly Asia and Africa.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
www.ehas.org
Photo: Wifi antenna installed by EHAS. Courtesy of the foundation.
