Elsevier Foundation Announces $500,000 in New Grants

Information and Library Needs Assessment to support the Orotta School of Medicine, Physicians for Peace and GWU Medical Center Training project in Eritrea, George Washington University Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
This Elsevier Foundation grant will assess and evaluate the present Eritrean clinical, medical and health information infrastructure to build an integrated information system grounded in evidence-based practice decisions. The immediate goal is to develop recommendations identifying the opportunities and barriers for dissemination and delivery of health information services to Eritrean health care professionals. Recently emerging from a 30 year struggle for independence from Ethiopia, Eritrea has no more than five physicians for every 100,000 people. This grant addresses “brain drain” in the long term by contributing new capacity for the first on-site graduate medical program in Eritrea. It also serves as an exportable model for other developing countries seeking to create sustainable clinical information systems to meet country-specific healthcare training and service needs.