Israel, Jordan, and PA to jointly monitor disease

IBM Haifa labs developed a public health information sharing system.

A new system to share medical information and follow infectious disease outbreaks will be used in Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority. The system was developed by IBM Haifa labs.

IBM, in collaboration with the Middle East Consortium on Infectious Disease Surveillance (MECIDS), created a unique technology that standardizes the method of sharing health information and automates the analysis of infectious disease outbreaks, in order to help contain diseases and minimize their impact.

MECIDS is made up of private health leaders, as well as public and academic institutions, all located in Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.

The secure on-line system, the Public Health Information Affinity Domain (PHIAD), is being deployed in the Middle East first, and the partners are pushing for wider deployment. MECIDS was a partner in the development of PHIAD and will be an early adopter of the technology.

PHIAD uses near-real time information to facilitate fast response and enables the secure exchange of data on both national and international levels with appropriate protection of privacy at all levels. This can facilitate an effective response to infectious disease outbreaks even across geographic and political boundaries.

A primary technological hurdle to overcome was the lack of collaboration between different systems, in the absence of a standard code for the medical information. The solution is based on emerging international regulations. Disease reporting is required by law in most countries and under the International Health Regulations (IHR), which requires all countries to report any infectious disease outbreak of international significance. Today, most reporting is done via fax, spreadsheet or phone calls.

“This collaboration writes the newest chapter in a story of healthcare information technology innovation innovation that progressively tackles head-on the lack of integration and communication between key players in the healthcare industry worldwide,” said Dan Pelino, General Manager, IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry.

The partnership was up and running in the region when the first outbreak of bird flu was detected. MECIDS enabled rapid communication and coordination of efforts to contain the spread of the disease.

IBM Haifa labs manager of healthcare and life sciences Boaz Carmeli explained that "the cooperation that is facilitated by the system paves the way to deal with several of the most troubling issues facing the worldwide medical community", adding, "There is no place in the world that will not benefit from a system like this".

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 3, 2008

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2008

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