Strategies for the Education of Diabetic Patients on the World Wide Web Part II K C LUN <kclun@nus.edu.sg> Associate Professor, Dept of Community Medicine Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Informatics Director, Medical Informatics Programme National University of Singapore

Distance Education: The Virtual Classroom In recent years, improvement in streaming technology has made it possible to deliver lectures-on-demand over the Web. Such services, which have made it possible for users to access online lectures over the Web ‘anytime and anywhere’ introduce a powerful whole new experience to learning via distance education.

Web-based Learning: The Virtual Classroom In future, diabetic patients can learn about their disease and its management from seminars / talks given by experts via lecture-on-demand from the World Wide Web In the context of diabetic patient education, a forum or a lecture on diabetes, its etiology, treatment and management could be video-captured, encoded and deposited in a video server for streaming on demand. In this way, diabetic patients can learn about their disease and its management from seminars/talks given by experts via lecture-on-demand from the Web.

Virtual Classroom Project: BIOSTATISTICS ON THE WEB TRY IT login: biostats Password: number5 Requirements: high bandwidth runs only on MS Internet Explorer but NOT Netscape Try an example of lecture-on-demand by clicking on the picture. Note: You need to have high bandwidth connectivity to the Internet. Also, the current application only supports the Microsoft IE browser but not Netscape. Use the login name, ‘biostats’ and password, ‘number5’.

Health Information on the Net 90% of health information in English global need to address information requirements of the non-English educated need is exacerbated by increasing penetration of Internet in largely non-English speaking communities such as Asia It is estimated that >22 million people in the USA alone go online to find health information and this number is expected to reach 33 million by end 2000. The consumer market for health information on the Web is expected to hit US$1billion also by end 2000. As 90% of health information on the Web is in English, language is a major impediment to Web Access by users from non-English-speaking communities throughout the world.

An emergent Internet wave is the development of multilingual web resources to reach out to non-English speaking global communities. This will address the global needs of the non-English educated for health information. Emerging Internet wave: multilingual web resources reaching out to non-English speaking global communities

Health ONE- The mulilingual health portal The NUS Health ONE project saw the need for the development of a multilingual and interactive multimedia health portal as early as 1997 and has health information available not only in English but also in Chinese (to target the large Chinese-speaking communities in Asia such as the P.R.of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore) and in Malay (to target the large Malay-speaking communities in Indonesia and Malaysia).

The Age of Consumer Health Informatics More than 22 million Americans go online to find health information Number will reach 33 million by year 2000 Revenue from consumer market for health information on the Web will be US$1billion by year 2000 The pervasiveness of the Internet and the World Wide Web have ushered in a new age of consumer health informatics as more and more people go on the Web to look for health information.

The Age of Consumer Health Informatics Explosion of medical knowledge (and misinformation) among public will cause a dramatic shift in balance of power between doctor and patient, changing how medicine is practised profoundly The ‘doctor-knows-best’ relationship in the physician-patient encounter is rapidly changing as a result of the pervasiveness of the Web. Clients are becoming informed about their condition and treatment options via the Web and are eager to discuss their therapeutic alternatives, gleaned from the Web, with their doctors

The need to protect consumers HOMEOPATHIC Hormone Available Now Without A Prescription Biggest Medical Breakthrough in Fat Loss & Anti-Aging in the 20th Century Order now and receive a "FREE GIFT" 1-800-636-6773 ext 6834. Now, for the first time ever, HOMEOPATHIC Growth Hormone is available without a prescription! Doctors have known for years that HGH : Decreases in;body fat, wrinkling, cholesterol, insomnia. Increases in;Physical strength, muscle mass, energy level, sexual function,mental alertness.Feelings of well being Stimulates youthful skin and hair appearance. Improves neurological function. Rejuvenates cell and organ tissue. Now it is available for less than $100.00 per month in a handy application that you spray under your tongue, for instant absorption and FAST ACTING RESULTS!!! The need to protect consumers The ability to easily access medical knowledge and information also brings with it the real danger of misinformation of the consumer. Health information on the Internet can be biased, misleading and even wrong. This e-mail was received by the author who promptly noted the wild and unsubstantiated claims! Received on 9 May 1999

The need to protect consumers The need to protect consumers from misinformation has prompted the US Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health to advise consumers of the need to learn to distinguish a reliable site from a bad one. Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health

Achieving Health Information for All by the Year 2000 - the multilingual approach of Health ONE Health ONE information only from reliable, peer-reviewed, evidence-based resources. Users - public and professionals - are adequately protected from mis-information At Health ONE, no effort is spared to ensure that information available from the health portal is reliable, peer-reviewed and evidence-based. By adopting a multilingual approach, the Health ONE development team believes that health information for all by the year 2000 is achievable through the World Wide Web.

First Prize The 1998 Internet Conference 21-24 July 1998, Geneva,Switzerland The multilingual approach to the delivery of health information on the World Wide Web earned Health ONE first prize in the scientific poster category at INET ’98, the Internet Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland. First Prize Scientific Poster Category

About Dr K C Lun Dr K C Lun is Associate Professor and Director of the Medical Informatics Research Programme at the National University of Singapore. Internationally, he is President-elect of the International Medical Informatics Association. Dr Lun’s homepage and contacts Send e-mail to Dr Lun Dr Lun’s educational web resources

Thank you E-mail: kclun@nus.edu.sg