Remote HIV/AIDS consultations in resource-limited settings Maria Zolfo Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium
BACKGROUND Telemedicine is a way to deliver health care in remote areas s have been used for years as a low cost telemedicine support for colleagues working in low resource settings, by the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp (ITMA)
BACKGROUND In 2003 the ITMA set up a computer aided training project to guide doctors in the implementation of antiretrovirals (ARVs) and AIDS care in developing countries
AIMS (I) To facilitate the introduction of high- quality ARV care for HIV/AIDS patients, living in resource limited settings by providing adequate technical support for ARVs and management of opportunistic infections (OIs), to clinician from the South
AIMS (II) To provide continuous medical education in the field of HIV/AIDS for doctors following Short Course on Antiretroviral Therapy ( SCART), through a discussion forum on a medical web site, supporting and guiding medical decision making and management of difficult clinical cases
Method of working Expert advice from HIV/AIDS specialists is offered to colleagues in the field through a discussion forum on
Initial partners in the field : Sihanouk Hospital Center of Hope, Phom Penh, Cambodia Central Hospital, Kigali, Rwanda Institute of Tropical Medicine Alexander Von Humboldt, Lima, Peru MSF-Belgium projects in South East Asia
Receiving cases/questions:
Receiving cases/questions: Web interface
Receiving cases/questions: Web interface (alerts)
Receiving cases/questions: Web interface (alerts)
1 st year activity
2 nd year evaluation 257/342 clinical cases 85/342 open questions 24/ / /342
24/ / /342 2 nd year evaluation details
ARVs details
What is iPath iPath - an open source software to build telemedicine platforms. Developed at University of Basel ipath.ch - an association to promote telemedicine and to support projects in developing countries
User Interface Group Display - case list
Case Display - Description & Images User Interface - Comments/Diagnosis New comments: automatic alert
General perception from the field /discussion forum support is considered important for: patient management increased knowledge of medical staff avoiding referrals access to medical literature
SURVEY
Off line function for posting ! A hybrid web and solution!
Thank you!