Health Informatics in Africa (HELINA-L)

HEALTH INFORMATICS IN AFRICA: 24 November 1993 Proceedings and Bulletin Board released

Dear Colleague,

The First International Working Conference on Health Informatics in Africa, HELINA 93, was held in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in 19-23 April 1993. The edited Proceedings of the conference has just been published by Elsevier Science Publishers in the prestigious International Congress Series. Please find an information leaflet enclosed.

In the closing session of HELINA 93, it was proposed that this successful conference should be periodically organised and along the lines of HELINA 93. Four proposals to organise HELINA 96, from four African countries, were received and these will be discussed and a decision taken at the next meeting of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Board, February 1994.

It was also decided in the closing session of HELINA 93 that an electronic bulletin board (BB) should be established for the African health informatics community. This facility will initially be operated by the HELINA 93 Overseas Bureau, under the direction of Mikko Korpela. His work on the BB will be coordinated with IMIA and WHO colleagues, and when established, with the HELINA 96 Scientific Programme Committee and Organising Committee.

The proposed electronic BB will be a moderated e-mail list available, to start with, to anyone with access to the INTERNET. Moderation means that the bulletins distributed through the list will be selected and adapted, if necessary, by the list administrators. This 'moderation' is not intended as a censor but as a guard against choking the low-capacity facilities of most of the likely subscribers in Africa, with voluminous or out-of-scope material.

If you are interested in subscribing to the "HELINA-L" bulletin board, please send your name, e-mail address and postal address to Mikko Korpela at the address below. The bulletin board is intended to start working on 15 January 1994, and all the subscribers will then be informed about the technical details for accessing and using the BB.

If you wish to have some information distributed through the HELINA- L electronic bulletin board, please send the text to Mikko Korpela, preferably by e-mail or as a plain DOS file. The BB administrators reserve the right to select, edit and adapt materials they consider suitable for distribution.

HELINA 93 was a major breakthrough in health informatics in Africa. We wholeheartedly recommend the proceedings to you or to the library of your institution. It is hoped that the pioneering and enthusiastic spirit of HELINA 93 will be maintained in part through the medium of the HELINA-L bulletin board, in the anticipation of HELINA 96. You are welcome to join!

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Salah H. Mandil, WHO Director-Advisor on Informatics and WHO Representative to the IMIA Board

Mr. Mikko Korpela, HELINA 93 Overseas Bureau E-mail: korpela@uku.fi University of Kuopio, Computing Centre Fax: +358-71-282 5566 PL 1627 FIN-70211 Kuopio Finland

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Health Informatics in Africa - HELINA 93 Proceedings of the First International Conference, 19-23 April 1993

Edited by S.H. Mandil, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland, K. Moidu, Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, CT, USA, M. Korpela, University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland, P. Byass, Nottingham University, Nottingham, UK, and D. Forster, KEMRI, Kilifi, Kenya

International Congress Series Volume 1055

Copyright 1993, 240 pages, hardbound Price: Dfl. 295.00 (US$ 168.50) ISBN 0-444-81752-2

Participants of the above mentioned conference emanated from 26 African countries, including South Africa, and also from 10 other countries around the globe, culminating in a gathering of experts actively engaged in the field of Health Informatics for the first time. This conference was brought about because the belief is growing that Health Informatics should play a major role in the health sector. Since Informatics is essentially human expertise, then it is a technology that developing countries can contribute to. The scientific content of the papers submitted for and selected for the conference, is representative of the present situation in Africa both in substance and geographic distribution. A full list of the papers published in this book is provided hereunder.

CONTENTS: The Opening Ceremony. KEYNOTE ADDRESS. A global perspective of informatics in health in developing countries (S.H. Mandil). NATIONAL POLICIES AND STRATEGIES. Health informatics development in Zambia (J.J. Chisanga). Health informatics in Zimbabwe (J.C. Mbiriza, N.Z. Nyazema). National health statistics in Republic of Djibouti (M.M. Hathem). Data processing and computerisation at the Ministry of Health in Ethiopia (M. Woldeab). Health information system in Libya: a study of end-user views (S. Abounaja, C.S. Nayak). INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL. Health information storage and retrieval systems (A.L. Packer). AISY: An integrated AIDS information system (J. Ochuodho, S.J. Ochuodho). INFORMATICS IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT. Informatics in support of primary health care management (K. Moidu). The development of a computerized information system in the Harare City Health Department (G. Woelk). Developing a medical information system for two local governments: Ijebu-Igbo (Nigeria) and Manzini (Swaziland) (J. Olutimayin). Egyptian experience with microcomputers in monitoring and evaluation of health programmes (S.G. Boutros). Making use of reports from a computerised health information system (R.E. Cibulskis, G. Afo, H. Annett). HOSPITAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS. Hospital information systems (R.O.A. Makanjuola). An integrated hospital information system for the National Cancer Institute in Cairo, Egypt: an experience to be shared (A.S. Ibrahim, O. Elhattab). Pharmacy information needs and priorities (L.A. Ilesanmi). A hospital information system in a Nigerian University Teaching Hospital (O.A. Daini, R.O.A. Makanjuola, J.O. Ojo). Considerations in the formulation of an information systems strategy for a large underfunded hospital: the Zambian case (C. Lavu). Economic problems in the implementation of hospital information systems (HIS) in Nigeria: a practical experience (O. Adelakun). INFORMATICS IN EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEILLANCE AND RESEARCH. Epidemiology and health information in Africa: chickens and eggs (P. Byass). Utilization of computers in the onchocerciasis control programme in West Africa (E.S. Alley et al.). Health informatics in epidemiology (R.O.A. Makanjuola). Using information in clinical management: a South African case study (H. Southall, S. Taylor). INFORMATICS IN EDUCATION. Informatics in health education and education in health informatics (K. Moidu). The informatics specialist as a member of the multidisciplinary health care team - a South African experience (L.J. King). Problems of information flow for health professionals in Africa: role of computer-based information (M.B. Musoke). KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS IN HEALTH CARE. A knowledge based system to encourage closer monitoring and evaluation of health services (R.E. Cibulskis et al.). Expert systems as a useful tool for tropical diseases diagnosis: the case of malaria (B.S. Flaubert, T.D. Esae). APPLICATION EXPERIENCES. Systems analysis for a laboratory information system: a case study in a developing country (D. Forster). Use of microcomputers in data management in AIDS and HIV related research in a developing country (T. Lutalo). The impact of portable technology on health in Africa: recent progress and future potential (P. Byass). Experiences from Scandinavian health informatics: lessons for African systems development? (J. Braa et al.). The development and support of informatics in an African setting: experiences at ALERT, Addis Ababa (T. Berhanu, P. Byass). NETWORKS IN HEALTH CARE. Networking and communications (S.H. Mandil). Computer networking in developing countries (E.W. Lisse). International diabetes research using BITNET: the DIAMOND experience (M.H. Makame). Technical platform adopted in the RINAF project to bring basic INTERNET services to 15 African countries (L. Abba et al.). The information system of the African Regional Centre for Technology, and its potential applications to health (R. Rattan, S. Mienje). Electronic networking and delivery of health service: the Kenyan experience (S.J. Ochuodho). CLOSING SESSION: what next? HELINA 93 Programme. Author index. Subject index. List of participants.

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