Linking the health community to resources and each other: HealthNet Nepal

From a small group of health professionals and representatives of health organizations in Nepal concerned about the lack of information resources, HealthNet Nepal has grown to become the leading source of medical and health information and communications services in and around Kathmandu. It serves 230 health institutions and organizations, including hospitals, clinics, university departments, research sites, and rural and urban NGOs, and allows more than 700 Nepalese health professionals to communicate and exchange knowledge with each other and colleagues around the world.

HealthNet Nepal is a non-governmental organization (NGO), established in 1994, that serves health professionals from its home at Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine. HealthNet Nepal provides access to a wide range of locally generated medical and public health information, including databases, full text journals, health statistics, seminar reports, technical reports and theses, and the annotated Health Science Bibliography of Nepal from 1988-’94, now available in a searchable database for health professionals. HealthNet Nepal also compiles a wide range of medical and public health information resources from the Internet, and  provides an annotated list of internet addresses for accessing electronic health information resources.

In 1999, with SATELLIFE's support, HealthNet Nepal became a full Internet Service Provider so it could serve a larger audience and offer a wider range of information services. SATELLIFE, an NGO based in Massachusetts, has worked to combat isolation and information poverty among health professionals in the developing world for almost 20 years. In 2006, it joined the Academy for Educational Development, a non-profit international development organization, to create the AED-SATELLIFE Center for Health Information and Technology.

HealthNet Nepal has had a profound impact on the Nepalese health community over the years, as the following anecdotes show:

  • In 1996, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital needed equipment and supplies. Dr. Adib Barsoum, a HealthNet Nepal user, reported that shortages were reaching a critical level. He and Dr. Merwyn Bagan of Concord, New Hampshire, mobilized a humanitarian relief effort with Dr. Bagan's son in the US. A year of effort – coordinated logistically over HealthNet – brought $1 million worth of supplies and equipment to the hospital.

  • In 1998, the Nepal Medical Council standardized medical education in Nepal, led by council member Dr. Hemang Dixit, a professor of child health at Tribhuvan University. He used HealthNet Nepal to communicate with Russian, American, and British authorities about training and standardization of qualifications of medical personnel in these countries, allowing the Council to reform undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate level training and examinations.

This story was compiled from information on the HealthNet Nepal website and the AED SATELLIFE website.

Contact information: HealthNet Nepal, Institute of Medicine, Health Learning Materials Center, PO Box 2533, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, Nepal. Email. AED-SATELLIFE Center, 30 California Street, Watertown, MA 02472, USA

 


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