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Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sadrivaan A and B (The Hilton Istanbul Hotel )
The Brazilian Family Health Strategy, a government policy, is currently established in about 84% of the Brazilian cities. That accounts for approximately 28 thousand Family Health teams. The development of a telehealth model for primary care came from the need to solve two big problems of Brazilian Health Care System: the inadequate number of physicians prepared to deal with primary care, and the challenge of setting health professionals in remote areas. In 2006, the Ministry of Health launched the Brazilian National Telehealth Program to support the Primary Health Care in nine Brazilian states (www.telessaudebrasil.org.br). It demanded planning and methodology, combined with audacity to overcome huge regional infrastructure, socioeconomic and cultural disparities throughout the country. In each state, a University Center is responsible for establishing one hundred connections, prioritizing remote areas. By these connections, the centres are able to deliver teleducation and teleassistance, contributing to increase resolution capacity of the system. The Ministry of Health appointed a Central Executive Committee and regional groups to coordinate and lead the process of creating a large eHealth network. Workgroups were formed to discuss, at national level, four fundamental points: Technology, Content, Evaluation and Teleconsultation Regulation. Although time consuming, a careful political articulation involving the three levels of Governmental institutions was crucial for implementation success . Furthermore, the nine eHealth University Centers have promoted the integration of technical areas such as medicine, nursing, and dentistry, and of the Unified Health System (SUS) Technical Schools.Several activities are still in progress. Examples are the deliver of courses and lectures, the development of learning tools and applications, the broadcasting of scientific events, the performance of teleconsultation and teleassistance, among others. By April 2008, the eHealth Project had selected 740 Municipalities. It had 277 points in operation, 786 teleconsultations performed and several activities of teleducation.
Learning Objectives: By attending at this session, and specifically at this presentation, participants may have the opportunity to learn about the use of the technologies of information and communication on teleducation combined with teleassistency, to support family health teams, who are responsible for primary health care in Brazil, in a national wide Program.
Sub-Theme: Communication skills and devices in public health training