The Atlanta - Tbilisi Healthcare Partnership
Home	Introduction	Accomplishments	Future Plans	Trip Reports	Partners

Health Education and Medical Information Program
for the
Public and Physicians

Project #9

National Information Learning Center in collaboration with UMCOR

Purpose: to promote healthy lifestyles among Georgians and to provide continuing education for physicians by utilizing both modern information technologies and the literature of modern medicine.

GoalsTo provide physicians and the general public with the most useful information on health promotion, using every available medium: printed resources (brochures and booklets), television, Internet resources (e.g. MedWeb, NetWellness, Medline Plus), news media and public lecturesTo organize a variety of continuing education opportunities for physicians and students, (such as: MD Internet Discussion Clubs, regularly scheduled conferences and lectures) covering topics in cardiology, emergency medicine, oncology, clinical pharmacology, metabolic disorders, epidemiology, Evidence-Based Medicine, and consumer health information

To promote on-line electronic medical publishing as a cost-effective way for Georgian researchers to share their scientific data among themselves and with their western partners.

Background

One of the key issues of social development is the protection and improvement of the nation's health. The healthcare systems of Georgia have experienced tremendous change since 1995, from a state governed/budgeted system toward a more self-supporting one, from a hospital orientation toward outpatient care and disease prevention/health promotion. As part of this transition, we need to change the habits among health professionals and the public at large about using information resources to improve their understanding of healthy lifestyles, preventative methodologies, and risk factors (smoking, alcohol, drugs, non-healthy food, hypertension, casual sexual relations, etc). These changes require a new information environment as well. Information and communication technologies may seem extravagant for a country with a devastated post-soviet economy. However, they may represent the best way to help narrow the gap between Georgia and developed countries by providing the Georgian healthcare community with access to the most advanced research and practice in all areas of healthcare.The National Information Learning Centre (NILC) is uniquely positioned to develop and support these new services. Established three years ago by the Georgian Ministry of Health (with financial support from the American International Health Alliance, and US Agency for International Development), the NILC provides the Georgian biomedical community with ready access to worldwide information resources and services. At the NILC medical professionals may search Internet resources, MEDLINE, MDConsult, EBSCO and other global medical information resources, as well as study new multimedia educational programs. In addition, a variety of healthcare institutions may access these resources by dial-up/leased line connection. One cannot overestimate the importance of the NILC in the country where no single international medical journal subscription has been available at public libraries for the last 8 years, and where the NILC has existed as the only site for medical information for physicians and students. In addition to providing access to modern biomedical information, it is also important to disseminate original Georgian biomedical research. Since 1997, the NILC has been publishing a bi-weekly, bilingual update on a variety of medical topics, including Public Health, Health Promotion, Cardiology, Oncology, AIDS/HIV, Infectious diseases, Epidemiology, Disease Prevention and Control, Clinical Pharmacology, ObGyn, TB Prevention/Control, and Micronutrient Deficiency. The NILC has published 55 issues of the Internet Medical Digest (IMD), an 8-page publication with a circulation of over 500 copies. Electronic versions are maintained on the NILC web page (www.nilc.org.ge). Since 1999, the Internet Medical Digest has been published with support from a World Bank grant to promote healthy lifestyles. In 1999 NILC began a cooperative project with UMCOR, Improving the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiac Diseases in Georgia. This project aims at enhancing knowledge in cardiology through access to and distribution of the most recent medical informatics data gained from the Internet and worldwide databases. The project has three main components:
access to medical information (including Evidence-based Medicine, MDConsult, MEDLINE, full-text articles via ARIEL from Emory University library, etc.)
workshops for cardiologists prepared by the group of young cardiologists section of Cardiology Association of Georgia
publication of guidelines and workshop materials comprising a comprehensive educational program.In addition, the Partnership for Peace Information Management System (PIMS) and the Institute of Health Sector Development of the UK (IHSD) have worked with the NILC to develop proposals for additional Georgian publications in a variety of biomedical disciplines. The "On-line Medical Archives of Georgia" Project proposed to provide bi-lingual (Georgian and English) electronic resources in 3 formats: A bi-weekly bulletin (newsletter),
A monthly abstract collection, and
A quarterly electronic Georgian Medical Journal (e-GMJ) for full text articles and reviews. Simultaneously, workshops will be organized in the fields of medical writing and peer review. Those activities will be planned with assistance from the World Association of Medical Editors. Collaborators in Tbilisi will include the Tbilisi Postgraduate Medical Academy, Georgian Nursing Association, Central and Regional Public Health Departments, NGOs and other interested institutions and individuals.Most recently, the NILC has undertaken a joint venture with the National Health Management Center of Georgia and the IHSD to develop a National Health Database of Georgia. The database is now in test format and allows users to easily update the database by providing additional information either in text, or in HTML format and/or linking existing web-pages to the database. In August, 2000, the database will be mirrored on the NILC server, and its operation will be handled by the NILC and local Editorial Management team.

Milestones

Enhance the NILC's physical facility by constructing two auditoriums (100 seats and 400 seats) to support continuing medical education and large-scale public education events.Promote the use of Internet resources (e.g. PubMed, Medline Plus, MedWeb and NetWellness) by health consumersDevelop and conduct monthly workshops for physicians, utilizing existing distance education materials and Internet resourcesProvide weekly email and/or video conferences on medical specialties, using the PIMS satellite connection to bring Georgian and western physicians together to discuss interesting cases and their treatmentProvide health education lectures in Tbilisi and in 2 Districts (Imereti and Guria)Enhance the NILC's ability to publish by utilizing Rizograph (or similar) technology to save on publishing costs by 40-50%Publish workshops materials for health practitioners and health information for the publicConstruct a health education site in Kutaisi (auditorium with 40-50 seats and connection with the PIMS network) to provide access to Georgian and western experts for health promotion lecturesEstablish an Editorial Management team for the Georgia Health Database and Editorial Board for e-GMJ (electronic Georgian Medical Journal)Begin using the Georgia Health Databases as useful, bi-lingual on-line tool to spread Health Promotion / Primary Care information via the Web;Begin on-line publishing of the newsletter, medical abstracts archive and original biomedical articles at the e-GMJ

Deliverables

Establish a project team to inventory existing facilities at the NILC and in Kutaisi and plan the renovation and furnishing of the new auditoriums.Renovate facilities and provide Internet connection and telecommunications equipment (see details in Project #1)Provide monthly workshops and weekly email and video conferences for physicians in Tbilisi, Imereti and Guria.Utilize "distance learning content consultants" (see project #1) to advise on the development of:
1. practice Guidelines for MDs (7-10 each year)
2. manuals for family doctors/GPs and for public health workers (7-10 each year)
3. promotional materials for the general public (10 each year)Provide health education lectures in Tbilisi, Imereti and GuriaCollaborate with UMCOR to develop posters, brochures and broadcast TV-programs and TV-advertisement materials (3-4 each year) and Advertise the use of Internet resources (e.g. PubMed, MedWeb, Medline Plus and NetWellness) to the publicAppoint the editorial board and publish quarterly e-GMJ issues and abstract collectionDevelop and provide workshops and email conferences on medical writing, peer review, and the techniques of Evidence-Based MedicineDevelop an active Interlibrary Loan service to provide journal articles and other resources from western libraries (ultimately this should become self-supporting)Develop the Georgia Health National Database and train physicians in its useDevelop evaluation instruments to assess the effectiveness of these programs

		Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	Total
Constructing and furnishing auditoriums	NILC	50,000	5,000	1,000	1,000	1,000	58,000
	Kutaisi		40,000	4,000	1,000	1,000	46,000
Equipment		70,000	15,000	10,000	5,000	5,000	105,000
Train the trainer workshops		20,000	10,000	5,000	5,000	5,000	45,000
Workshops(medical specialties, medical writing)		15,000	16,500	18,000	20,000	22,000	91,500
Health promotions programs		20,000	25,000	25,000	30,000	30,000	130,000
Publications		40,000	30,000	25,000	25,000	20,000	140,000
Vehicle purchase and maintenance		40,000	2,000	2,000	2,000	2,000	48,000
Access to online databases and fulltext publications		0	0	25,000	30,000	35,000	90,000
Interlibrary Loan (articles from libraries)		5,000	4,000	2,500	1,500	500	13,500
Supplies		15,000	16,000	17,000	18,000	19,000	85,000
Generator operation and maintenance		15,000	15,000	15,000	15,000	15,000	75,000
Administrative staff (complements Project #1)		10,000	11,000	12,500	15,000	18,000	66,500
Total		300,000	189,500	162,000	168,500	173,500	993,500

| Summary of Accomplishments | Summary of Future Plans |
| Site Contents | Contact | Get Adobe Acrobat Reader |
| Emory University | Emory University School of Medicine | Department of Medicine |
| Morehouse School of Medicine | Grady Healthsystem | Emory Grady Partnership |
| Georgia State University | Georgia Institute of Technology |