The World Health Imaging, Telemedicine and Informatics Alliance (WHITIA) is a non-profit

global health Global health is the health of the populations in the worldwide context; it has been defined as "the area of study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide". Problem ...

technology and

social venture A Social Venture (also called a social enterprise) is undertaking by a firm or organization established by a social entrepreneur that seeks to provide systemic solutions to achieve a sustainable, social objective. Background Social ventures may b ...

established in 2006 by affiliates of

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

near

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. WHITIA cultivates high-level strategic relationships with

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

imaging Imaging is the representation or reproduction of an object's form; especially a visual representation (i.e., the formation of an image). Imaging technology is the application of materials and methods to create, preserve, or duplicate images. ...

industry innovators and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

institutions in order to integrate and deliver meaningful, sustainable,

diagnostic Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". In systems engine ...

technology to underserved communities worldwide. WHITIA's vision is to facilitate the deployment of thousands of digital medical imaging systems worldwide, providing one billion people with access to diagnostic imaging. WHITIA was formerly known as the World Health Imaging Alliance (WHIA) until it formally expanded its scope in June 2009. WHITIA's first formal public launch was in April 2009 at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Annual Conference & Exhibition in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. WHITIA announced strategic partners including SEDECAL,

Carestream Health Carestream Health, formerly Eastman Kodak Company's Health Group, is an independent subsidiary of Onex Corporation which is one of Canada's largest corporations. History In 2007, the Kodak Health Group was sold to Onex Corporation for $2.35 ...

and Merge Healthcare, receiving extensive coverage in

Health IT Health information technology (HIT) is health technology, particularly information technology, applied to health and health care. It supports health information management across computerized systems and the secure exchange of health information ...

magazines and publications. At the 2009 Annual Conference of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) in

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, WHITIA announced its partnership with SIIM, which will allow both organizations to collaborate on specific initiatives. WHITIA was recently ranked #15 of the top 25 most influential people, institutions, and organizations in the radiology industry. At the 2009

RSNA RSNA may refer to: *Radiological Society of North America The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) is a non-profit organization and an international society of radiologists, medical physicists and other medical imaging professionals repr ...

Annual Meeting, WHITIA launched, Remi-d, a remote-operated screening X-ray system for use in the developing world. Its strengths in these areas stem from the higher burden of

Human Immunodeficiency Virus The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the ...

(HIV) and

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

(TB) co-infection, high incidents of

Black Lung disease Coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), also known as black lung disease or black lung, is an occupational type of pneumoconiosis caused by long-term exposure to coal dust. It is common in coal miners and others who work with coal. It is similar to b ...

, or outbreaks of other infectious

respiratory diseases Respiratory diseases, or lung diseases, are pathological conditions affecting the organs and tissues that make gas exchange difficult in air-breathing animals. They include conditions of the respiratory tract including the trachea, bronchi, br ...

. The teleradiology and remote-controlled features of Remi-d allow resource-limited areas such as sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central America and Southeast Asia, where

Radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiatio ...

s and

Radiographer Radiographers, also known as radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists are healthcare professionals who specialize in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and treatment of pathology. Radi ...

s are in short supply to have a functioning X-ray service. WHITIA currently has

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

integrated

digital X-ray Digital radiography is a form of radiography that uses x-ray–sensitive plates to directly capture data during the patient examination, immediately transferring it to a computer system without the use of an intermediate cassette. Advantages inclu ...

sites in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

at established

clinics A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

in need and is expanding to new qualified sites in

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...

with

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

such as

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

while cooperating with the

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

and national governments.

Guatemala clinics

The Guatemala pilot sites in urban

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, nest ...

and

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

Río Hondo provide essential healthcare technology to thousands of people in the communities served. They are designed to be models for the wider expansion of the WHITIA network throughout the clinics in need in urban and rural Guatemala. The system's specific design for Guatemala City is an integration of some of WHITIA's partners' strengths and generosity: * SEDECAL provides the X-ray generator and controls *

donates the computed radiography (CR) digital scanner and plates * Kane X-ray donates personnel to perform installation and set up of the CR and PACS This project was largely funded by several US and Guatemalan

Rotary clubs Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

along with the key resource support of the Guatemalan municipal and national governments.

References

External links

Official webpageVideo interview with WHITIA staff and overview of mission. Shown at Rotary International Convention 2008
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Health Imaging, Telemedicine, And Informatics Alliance Non-profit organizations based in Chicago Medical and health organizations based in Illinois International medical and health organizations Health informatics and eHealth associations