CHIRAD

CHIRAD is the Centre for Health Informatics Research and Development.

Its aim is to provide an environment for the development of Health Informatics as an academic subject.

CHIRAD is a company limited by guarantee that is a non-for-profit organisation. It is probably the first virtual R&D centre for Health Informatics.

CHIRAD is an Academic Institutional member of IMIA, the International Medical Informatics Association (www.imia.org), and is the first Institutional member of EFMI, the European Federation for Medical Informatics (www.efmi.org)

CHIRAD in South Africa

CHIRAD is helping to develop a Centre of Excellence in Health Informatics in the Post Graduate Medical School at the Walter Sisulu University (WSU), Mthatha in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The initiative - launched in June 2006 at the Mthatha Campus - is to make WSU the center of excellence in developing, training and application of Health Informatics in clinical practice for the province and South Africa. A branch of the University of Fort Hare was established in the town, and after the "independence" of the Transkei in 1977 it became the University of Transkei, which has since been integrated into the Walter Sisulu University for Technology and Science.

One part of the initiative is to take 11 very senior local health professionals through a Masters programme to develop the Faculty of
Health Informatics.

The second is aimed at developing collaborative research with CHIRAD and others.

The initiative was launched in June 2006 at the Mthatha Campus of WSU, when the first students began study on the MSc in Health Informatics course.

The programme is being delivered at the new Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in a high tech resource centre. This has video conferencing facilities which allows guest international informaticians to interact with the students. The students comprise senior academics at WSU, as well as senior managers and information officers from the Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, the Eastern Cape Health Department and the Office of the Premier. Once they have completed the course, with the award of an MSc from The University of Winchester, they will become the first cohort of staff teaching further intakes of students. In addition to the MSc course, the aim of the overall initiative, which is supported by the Medical Research Council of South Africa, is to make WSU the centre of excellence in developing, training and application of Health Informatics in clinical practice for the province and South Africa.

CHIRAD's websites

For more information on CHIRAD's activities, see our other websites:

the CHIRAD portal for free/libre and open source software is at www.chirad.info

the CHIRAD education portal is at www.chirad.org.uk

the CHIRAD in South Africa portal is at www.chirad.co.za

the CHIRAD resources site for Fellows and Members is at www.chirad.net

the CHIRAD blog is at chirad-at.blogspot.com

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