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By Andualem Sisay - Capital
23 March 2007
With the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Ethiopia and India last January, two government hospitals, the Black Lion and Nekemt hospitals, in collaboration with Ginos University of India, are to begin treating patients using telemedicine.
This was indicated at the Sheraton Addis, March 14, 2007, at a symposium held to create awareness about the upcoming Third World Information Technology Forum (WITFOR 2007), which will be hosted in Ethiopia from August 22-24.
According to Ethiopian Information Communication and Technology Development Agency (EICTDA) Director General, Debretsion Gebre Michael, his agency is covering the expenses of all the necessary links related to telecom such as bandwidth, which is estimated to cost 4,000-5,000 USD per month. Other equipment is supplied and installed with support of the Indian government. The medical specialists of New Delhi University have also agreed to provide free training for the pilot stage of the project, which is three years.
“From what we are currently observing, telemedicine is saving lives and the scarce resources of the country,” said the Director General. “It is a blessing especially for African countries like Ethiopia who lose some 20,000 highly educated health professionals every year due to migration. Recognizing its significance, we are currently broadening the application of this technology for training MBA students of Addis Ababa and Haromaya universities.
Ethiopia has been given the opportunity to host WITFOR 2007, which will be held with the theme, ‘ICT for development and prosperity’, according to the decision made at the second WITFOR 2005 in Botswana.
The purpose of the conference is to help implement information development strategies and projects in developing countries. Significantly, it is expected to take the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Plan of Action a step forward, by converting policy statements to actual, implemental projects that should help developing countries to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.
It is expected to gather up to 1000 delegates from around the world including ICT ministers, senior policy makers, academics, the private ICT sector, as well as heads of state and dignitaries including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Prime Minster Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, among others.
The government of Ethiopia has established EICTDA to be in charge of ICT policy implementation through design and coordination. Ethiopia, represented by EICTDA has already signed an agreement with the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).
WITFOR 2007 is organized by EICTDA, IFIP, Ethiopian Information technology Professional Association (EITPA) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNECA.