Popularly known as “the Computer place”, WiRED International’s Community Health Information Center (CHIC) in Butula is proving to be the best strategy for fighting AIDS. Confirming the popular notion that “information is power,” the story of 11-year-old Joseph is a testimony to WiRED’s work in this part of the world.

On Tuesday, June 24, 2003, WiRED International launched the first of several Medical Information Centers at a ceremony held in Iraq’s largest teaching hospital. This 10-station computer network and e-library of medical topics will provide more than 1,000 doctors and medical students with information about the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses.

I am pleased to be here today to participate in the dedication of a Center that will provide medical professional in Iraq with new tools of healthcare information. These computers, and the extensive medical libraries they contain, will provide a resource that we trust will enable the fine doctors and students of this teaching hospital to contribute even more to the health and well-being of their patients.

Business professor Gary Selnow and the non-profit organization that he founded, WiRED International, dedicated a new Medical Information Center in the largest medical school and teaching hospital in Baghdad on June 24.

The Department of State’s U. S. Global Technology Corps (USGTC) – a program administered by the Bureau of International Information Programs, Office of Technology Partnerships – is providing computer technology and training to medical students in Baghdad, Iraq as part of a joint public diplomacy initiative with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

WiRED International uses information technology to provide Iraq’s healthcare community with the latest developments in human medicine. This non-profit organization will develop Medical Information Centers in the largest medical schools and teaching hospitals in Baghdad.

The task at hand in Iraq: The Global Technology Corps (GTC) at the U.S. Department of State has asked WiRED to assist in evaluating the information needs of the Iraqi people in the aftermath of the war.

Thank you Dean Makawiti. I would like to begin with a word of thanks to the many people who have contributed to this Medical Information Center that we are dedicating today, and to the Community Health Information Center work that has been ongoing in Kenya for more than a year.

U.S. Ambassador to Kenya, Johnnie Carson, will join WiRED International for the opening of a new Medical Information Center at the University of Nairobi Faculty of Medicine on February 4, 2003. “The Ambassador’s participation highlights growing international recognition of the crucial connection between access to information and the health of developing nations,” says WiRED Executive Director Dr. Gary Selnow. “We are honored that Mr. Carson will join us for this important event. This computer facility–the first available in Kenya’s largest medical school-will enable students and faculty to access information that has, to date, been beyond their reach.

WiRED’s Director, Gary Selnow, will soon visit the Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School in Freetown, Sierra Leone. He will lead a team of technical experts who will install a Computer Information Center in the school. In addition, they will train the teachers how to use computers in their daily lesson plans.