Antevasins from the worlds of technology and health- please unite!
Technology and Health
Mention ‘technology and health’ and discussions generally steer into the direction of various gadgets and devices that transmit data, help remote diagnostics or empower patients to better manage their chronic conditions. The use of Google glasses by surgeons worldwide is the latest in generating such excitement. This is understandable in an era of short attention spans, where we tend to choose the visibly most exciting and the one that can be touched, tried and tested. While these new inventions are thrilling, most remain in the realm of luxury for a large part of the world. What often remains invisible and under-acknowledged is information and communication technology’s (ICT) ‘s role in transforming the landscape of broader issues such as power and access. At first instance, this may seem unrelated to health. However, these disruptions that ICT can make carry the potential to make health more accessible.
The truth behind “Access to Health”
‘Access to health’ questions are essentially questions of power imbalances, equity and human rights. Information and communication technology are essential for de-monopolising information and power and bypassing corruption. Communities where girls and women are not allowed to step out of their homes to go to schools, can now be reached in their homes through eLearning programs. Digitization of land records in feudal societies leads to major power shifts in communities. These shifts create new opportunities for people to think beyond ‘survival’. When such developments are coupled with legislation that empowers citizens with the right to information, wonders can happen in many fields, including health. The potential of transparency and rapid dissemination of information that ICT brings warrants close collaboration between champions of access to health and technologists. This should not be considered relevant only in the low-income- resource-constrained setting but also in the high-income countries where health cost is skyrocketing.
Integrating technology thinking into health thinking
If we wish to make health accessible for more people in more places in the world, we would need to find effective ways of integrating ‘technology thinking’ into ‘health thinking’. In the current scenario, technology is seen in service to health – a vehicle for carrying forward health services and products. The vehicle and the product are usually developed independently, and their coming together is more often coincidentally than by design. In health projects, I often see technology as an afterthought, not an integral element of the project design.
While ‘inter-disciplinarity’ is a term tossed around by global health gurus and policy writers, it is a mammoth task to achieve in practice. The first step towards this integrated thinking would be to create dialogue spaces that are conducive for the meetings of the Antevasins from the worlds of technology and health.
Antevasins- the need of the hour
Antevasin (Ante-vasin n. Sanskrit) loosely translates as ‘living at the borders’. This word gained quite some popularity when used in the book “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. Finding Antevasins in the area of Health and Technology is a challenge as both fields take pride in their super-specialists. Add to this the tendency of people to put experts in health and technology in a box. However, it is vital that we search for those who, while having their niche of expertise, can see the bigger picture and appreciate the importance of connecting with ‘outsiders’.
Med@Tel- a pioneer!
I had the privilege of attending the annual conference of the ISfTeH in Luxembourg 2013- Med@Tel. The size of the conference, the sessions, the layout and the staff that managed the event created an ambience conducive to networking beyond the customary exchange of visiting cards. To my delight, at Med@Tel, I met an impressive number of Technology Antevasins. Saddened I was to see few from my own tribe of health and medicine at the conference. This led to our proposal of a thematic partnership between the ISfTeH and the Geneva Health Forum.
Content is King
Over the last four editions of the forum, we have tried to ensure that partners appreciate the value proposition of the Geneva Health Forum and commit to contributing to its content. The fruits of these efforts were clearly visible in the fourth edition in 2012. This has also enhanced the credibility of the GHF as a forum where ‘Content is King’. Gradually partners have come to value the unique dialogue and networking opportunities the GHF provides. Many partners have also found value in getting access to the views from the frontlines that the GHF channels, which may show trends that may initially be invisible to policymakers in Geneva.
We are confident in the robustness of the product that we are bringing forward. We feel the content will prevail over packaging in a fast-moving world of multiple and non-stop choices. The global health community has no more patience for predictable, self-asserting and mind-numbing meetings, conferences and sessions. It is time to raise the bar and bring back discussions and debates that make health more powerful.
Not for fence-sitters
The Geneva Health Forum is not meant to attract spinners and fence-sitters. It is a forum of Antevasins from across disciplines that can see beyond their own spheres of expertise, excellence and influence. It is a forum that brings together believers of interdependence over independence. I earnestly hope that members of the ISfTeH will participate and infuse the discussions at GHF2014. We know that without ICT, health initiatives cannot scale. At the same time, we will encourage health experts to engage at your fora and bring their perspectives to challenges and possible solutions to advance health and well-being. I invite you to visit the website of the GHF.
I earnestly hope the partnership between ISfTeH and the GHF will lead to new disruptions that will make health more powerful.
I wish you good health!
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Sunoor Verma, MD MS
Executive Director
Geneva Health Forum
Editorial by
Dr. Sunoor Verma, Executive Director of the Geneva Health Forum published in the October 2013 Newsletter of the ISfTeH
Dear Reader,
As I indicated last year, from time to time, I will allow a member of our community to use this space to share their thoughts with everyone. Dr Sunoor Verma, Executive Director of the Geneva Health Forum, is the first to take advantage of this, with his piece on the people who straddle the worlds of health and technology as we do. The ISfTeH signed a memorandum of understanding with the Geneva Health Forum this summer. We all look forward to a mutually beneficial collaboration with the GHF.
Sincerely,
Executive Director, ISfTeH