COMMUNICATION BETWEEN KIDNEY FOUNDATIONS WORLDWIDE

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COMMUNICATION BETWEEN KIDNEY FOUNDATIONS
WORLDWIDE

• Kim Solez, M.D.

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Communication between kidney foundations
worldwide.1. Common solution to
problems.2. Electronic commmunication in
nephrology education, research, and
practice.3. Facilitation of diagnostic
consultations, research collaboration.4. Sharin
g of ideas on educational approaches
and programs.
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Modalities CD-ROM, Fax on demand, Email, WWW,
Internet videoconferencing, telemedicine,
telepathology. Advantages - Much can be accompl
ished using these new technologies which could
not occur in any other way. Nearly instant
opinion gathering and consultation.
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Bandwidth considerations The Internet in high b
andwidth environments Only 35 of human commun
ication is words. With Internet video
conferencing can capture gestures, body language,
inflections of the voice, facial expression etc.
plus share images, documents, software
applications with "shared white board" or
complete remote control of other computer!
Requres 56 K modem or faster connection.
The Internet in low bandwidth situations Web
site educational content can be placed on
CD-ROMs cheaply and easily so sites can be
accessed without going to the World Wide Web.
Email-based low bandwidth discussion has been
enormously successful in nephrology while
WWW-based discussion has not. So potentially
everyone has access to the Internet resources
that have proven most valuable in nephrology.
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All countries can benefit from Internet-based di
scussion in Nephrology. Email connectivity has
reached almost everywhere. Very few exceptions
Afghanistan , Angola, Cape Verde, the Comoros
Islands, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Mauritania,
São Tome and Principe, Somalia and Western
Sahara. Connecting is becoming easier all the t
ime. Within East Africa (Uganda, Kenya,
Tanzania), phone calls are treated as "local" and
are therefore relatively inexpensive. Thus, you
need only have an account created in one place.
You can for instance call Kampala from Nairobi or
Zanzibar for low-cost. Indeed, there are a
sizeable number of clients in Uganda or Tanzania
who dial into a server in Nairobi!
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Rapidity of change. Everything becoming easier,
faster, cheaper. In 1993, only four countries
in Africa were connected to the Internet. By
August 1997, all but ten African countries were
connected. Similar progress is being made in
developing countries around the world.
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How NKF cyberNephrology and ISN Informatics
Commission can help with transition to greater
use of high technology communications for kidney
foundations worldwide. We are poised to help an
d can do so in many ways - Technical support.
- Email discussion groups in
nephrology. - Providing WWW content on CD-ROMs.
- Computer hardware and software donation and
on-site training in Internet connectivity as
part of Renal-Tech project.
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Renal-Tech Project http//www.renal-tech.org
Cooperative program with ISN donates computer ha
rdware. software, and computer/Internet training
to renal units in developing countries. Visits
to Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Cuba, and Peru.
Hope to expand to visit 24 additional countries
in three years. Please approach
Kim.Solez_at_UAlberta.CA or Zina Munoz rthlink.net if you believe your country could
benefit.
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"We strongly believe that better
telecommunications will enhance our ability to
deliver improved quality of life, electronic
health and learning services to previously
disadvantaged areas in the continent".
President Nelson Mandela in an address to the Af
rica TELECOM 98 Exhibition and Forum Johannesburg
4-9 May 1998 "I have come to understand that a
lack of knowledge in a major factor in many of
the mistakes that have occurred in Africa since
the 1960s. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni -
Uganda
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Latin American Developments Telecommunications
reform -- accompanied by competition, cheaper
rates and better service -- is arriving,
especially in Argentina, Chile, Peru and
potentially Brazil. In Argentina, meanwhile, the
high cost of a local telephone call was recently
cut in half for calls made to Internet service
providers. A recent study by International Data
Corporation (IDC) indicated that almost 80 of
Internet access accounts in Brazil are home-
based. In contrast, Mexico's home penetration is
only 29. These numbers highlight the greatest
and least Net access in Latin American Nations.