2006 Press Releases

 

U.S. Department of State and Kosovo Foundation for Medical Development to Improve Health Care in the Balkans Through Advanced Technologies
(This press release is distributed on behalf of Kosovo Foundation for Medical Development - KFMD)

October 10, 2006

[Pristina, USOP] - The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. Department of State has awarded $850,000 to the Kosovo Foundation for Medical Development (KFMD), a not-for- profit organization in Anchorage, Alaska, to implement a two-year project to use telemedicine, advanced technologies and cultural exchange as a platform to improve health care delivery in the Balkans. This massive educational undertaking , which started last month, will create the medical and technical leadership to significantly enhance health care access and quality in the region.

Through this educational curriculum and exchange program, 44 physicians, nurses, and technical professionals from Kosovo , Montenegro , Macedonia and Albania will travel to the United States for education and training in telemedicine, e-health, electronic library management, trauma and surgical critical care at the University of Arizona at Tucson and Anchorage , Alaska . A group of 16 U.S. experts in these same medical disciplines will conduct workshops, seminars and other cultural and educational activities in the Kosovo region. In addition to the educational programs, the project will expand the existing infrastructure for telemedicine and a virtual medical educational network of the Telemedicine Center of Kosovo to six regional hospitals in Kosovo. This network will include telemedicine units enabling live and direct medical consultations from regional hospital emergency rooms, as well as storing and forwarding telemedicine consultations. Each regional hospital is being equipped with 10 computers for electronic medical library access with more than 1200 full-text medical journals available. Telemedicine and virtual education modalities will provide continuous medical education to ensure long-term sustainability of the project's benefits.

The project is led by Dr. Rifat Latifi, Professor of Surgery at University of Arizona , Tucson , an alumnus of Medical Faculty of the University of Prishtina , Project Director of the Telemedicine Program of Kosovo, and President of KFMD. The major local project partner is the Telemedicine Center of Kosovo. This initiative is being conducted in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, the Medical Faculty and all regional hospitals in Kosovo.