* * * CALL FOR PARTICIPATION * * *
******* eHDC 2004 – e-HEALTH FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES *******
TO BE HELD AT UNIVERSITA' CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE, ROME, 31 MAY – 1 JUNE 2004 www.ehdc.org
AN ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL EVENT
Healthcare worldwide has to respond to new and growing needs originating in demographic and socio-cultural changes, progress based on medical research and technology and, last but not least, globalisation. Within these constraints e-Health has a great potential becoming a key factor for a widespread healthcare provision.
Technologies like networked electronic health records, broadband communication and secure networks enable the delivery of ‘ubiquitously available’ and enhanced healthcare services to patients. The massive deployment of information technologies changes the access to and the nature of healthcare at rapid pace.
e-Health for Developing Countries Conference would like to be the first of a series of annual events to actively promote the idea of a widespread deployment of eHealth into daily medical practice with the use of e-learning tool to train health operators and keep them informed about new disease and techniques in developing countries.
At the same time on the same globe, people live without access to (e)health care. We are experiencing a digital divide between the haves and have-nots within and between nations. Are we responding appropriately?
The 1st e-HDC – International Conference on e-Health in Developing Countries (e-HDC 2004) will be held on 31st May – 1st June, 2004 at UCSC CAMPUS in Rome, Italy
ORGANIZATION
The conference is organized by UCSC and The University of Birmingham, Bangladesh University Of Engineering And Technology (BUET) and Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP).
PURPOSE OF THE CONFERENCE
Theme: ‘e-Health in Developing Countries’
Information and communication technologies use can become a common tool for all health care professionals and patients. Health telematics applications could be as natural as stethoscope and telephone nowadays.
Telemedicine is no longer just a playground for dreamers, enthusiasts and pilot programs. It has become a strategic tool for those countries where, failing economic trends, decades of political instability and low levels of development, the health sector lags far behind its counterparts in many other countries of the world, especially the more industrialized nations.
The increasing availability of excellent telecommunications, infrastructure and video conferencing equipment will help provide a physician where there was none before.
We invite submissions of papers of original academic or industrial research on e-health that contribute to the future research indeveloping countries.
TOPICS OF INTEREST
The Conference will be focusing on e-Health themes in the context of their applicability in developing countries.
The following list provides the topics of interest to this conference:
Access to health and medical information
Empowering the patient & the physician
Promoting health literacy
Promoting access to healthcare information for the disabled and impaired
International medical collaboration
The Electronic Healthcare Record
Knowledge management Systems and information retrieval technology
Healthcare management information systems
Hospital administration and patient administration systems
Laboratory information systems
Radiology information systems
Pharmacy systems
Nursing systems
E-health and quality issues
Ethical, privacy and legal issues.
This list is not exclusive. Papers in all fields of ICT in Healthcare, as applied in the context of the developing world, are welcomed.
SCOPE & PURPOSE
This conference is about people using eHealth or telemedicine.
WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE?
We invite doctors and health professional from every countries, especially developing countries together with policy makers and experts from the field of health, social sciences and technology in health-care.
FORMAT
Keynote plenum presentations and parallel sessions will provide arenas for exchange of knowledge and debate.
We will invite opponent presentations in order to encourage diverse perspectives on central issues. The program will allow ample opportunity for discussion.
CENTRAL ISSUE:
The conference invites state-of-the-art or project presentations as well as future perspectives related to central issues such as:
Research: How are traditional research fields responding to the unique challenges emerging from fast-changing technologies, accompanying social trends and the potential impacts on health? Will research have a central role in ensuring that e-health developments promote health, from both individual and community perspectives?
Technology development: What is the future of ‘empowering technologies’ and what is their potential for promoting health? Can we assume that key concepts for future technologies – such as ‘pervasive’, ‘virtual’, ‘ubiquitous’, ‘multimodal’ – will coincide with the health needs of citizens?
Organizational implications: How should health care institutions and patient organisations respond and adapt to e-health-empowered citizens? What issues will need attention in order to enable us to deal effectively with new patient roles and technological opportunities?
Help us make this an important event!
We invite anyone with good ideas for designing sessions and workshops to contact us. We are also grateful for names of talented speakers, sponsors and exhibitors in this field of whom we may not be aware.
ATTENDING THE CONFERENCE
The following options are available:
- Student: Non-residential booking (it includes: 2-day conference, refreshments and lunches, proceedings, excluding accommodation). Cost: 80 euro.
- Early registration (within April 30th): Non-residential early booking (it includes: 2-day conference, refreshments and lunches, proceedings, conference bag, pre-conference and in-conference reception (1 dinner). Excluding accommodation). Cost: 150 euro.
- Regular registration (after May 1st): Full, non-residential booking (it includes: 2-day conference, refreshments and lunches, proceedings, conference bag, pre-conference and in-conference reception (1 dinner). Excluding accommodation). Cost: 200 euro.
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Speaker: Full, non-residential booking. At least one speaker has to register within 2 weeks after notification to be included into the programme. Cost: 0 euro.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
We would like to invite sponsorship from organisations who have an interest in E-HEALTH. There are various opportunities, which could take the form of the following:
Lead Sponsorship (single company sponsorship)
Co-Sponsorship (sponsorship shared with other organisations)
Drinks reception sponsor
Inserts in to the Delegate Pack
sponsor for doctors/participants coming from developing countries
If you would be interested in finding out about sponsorship arrangements for the EHDC 2004 event, please e-mail ELENA MURELLI (@email) for further information, since broad range of options is available.
CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS
Elena Murelli, Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Giorgio Da Bormida, Conference Co-Chair, Italy
Theodoros N. Arvanitis, Conference Co-Chair, The University of Birmingham, UK
Please see www.ehdc.org for further information about the conference and look at eHL project, www.ehl-bd.org to which the conference is linked.
E-HL is a project supported by the European Commission – ASIA IT&C Programme.
