Teaching Global Health at the Frontlines: A multidisciplinary course in Peru presents basic concepts to students

The authors discuss a unique project to teach medical students in Peru about global health, which included a trip to the mining town of La Oroya at 15,610 feet above sea level in the Peruvian Andes

Biomedical Journals and Global Poverty: Is HINARI a Step Backwards?

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Barreras y desafíos para el desarrollo de la telesalud en el Perú en el contexto de la COVID-19

The purpose of the article is to describe the main barriers and challenges for the development of telehealth in Peru. This article discusses the role of the digital ecosystem in Latin America, the digital transformation of the health sector and the access to telehealth services in Peru. The barriers and challenges are grouped into components such as: infrastructure, infostructure, regulatory framework, trained health personnel, data management and information security, and the administrative processes for telehealth in Peru. Telemedicine represents an efficient strategy to ensure the continuity of health services to the population in situations such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to promote telehealth in primary health-care centers, due to their important role in the patient flow management to be referred to a more complex center. In addition, to strengthening the training of human resources in telehealth and digital health is essential to promote the development of telehealth in Peru.El objetivo del artículo es describir las principales barreras y desafíos para el desarrollo de la telesalud en el Perú. Se discute el rol del ecosistema digital en América Latina, la transformación digital en el sector salud, el acceso a la telesalud en el Perú. Las barreras y desafíos se agrupan en componentes tales como: infraestructura, infoestructura, marco normativo, personal de salud capacitado, tratamiento de datos y seguridad informática, y los procesos administrativos para la telesalud en el Perú. La telemedicina representa una estrategia eficiente para garantizar la continuidad de la prestación de servicios de salud a la población en situaciones como la actual pandemia por el COVID-19. Resulta importante impulsar la implementación de la telesalud en los establecimientos de salud que conforman el primer nivel de atención ya que juegan el rol importante en la gestión de pacientes para su referencia a establecimientos de mayor complejidad. Asimismo, fortalecer la formación de recursos humanos en telesalud y la salud digital resulta fundamental para impulsar el desarrollo de la telesalud en el Perú

Transformación digital del aprendizaje en la educación superior

En procesoDocumento de trabaj

Quality evaluation of health services using the Kano model in two hospitals in Peru

Public–private partnerships (PPP) represent an alternative model of health management focused on improving the quality of health services, particularly in emerging countries. To date, a systematic method to improve the perceived quality of health services by healthcare users in Peru has not been established. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of health services in two PPP hospitals in Peru using the Kano model. A prospective cross-sectional descriptive observational study was carried out through a health service satisfaction survey using the Kano model methodology, measuring six categories of attributes. A total of 250 users of the health services were surveyed in the two PPP hospitals, located in Lima and Callao, using non-probability convenience sampling. Of the 31 attributes evaluated by the patients, 27 (81%) were classified as having a one-dimensional-type attribute, 3 (10%) were reported as mandatory, and 1 (3%) was considered as inverse. These results suggest that the presence of most of the attributes evaluated was relevant to maintaining the level of user satisfaction and that the absence of these attributes generated dissatisfaction in the users. The results showed that the users’ evaluation of health services was multidimensional—namely, their evaluation was focused not only on the interaction space between the patient and medical personnel but also addressed other interaction services

Transformación digital y modelos de referencia en la educación superior

En procesoDocumento de trabaj

Developing capacity in health informatics in a resource poor setting: lessons from Peru

The public sectors of developing countries require strengthened capacity in health informatics. In Peru, where formal university graduate degrees in biomedical and health informatics were lacking until recently, the AMAUTA Global Informatics Research and Training Program has provided research and training for health professionals in the region since 1999. The Fogarty International Center supports the program as a collaborative partnership between Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru and the University of Washington in the United States of America. The program aims to train core professionals in health informatics and to strengthen the health information resource capabilities and accessibility in Peru. The program has achieved considerable success in the development and institutionalization of informatics research and training programs in Peru. Projects supported by this program are leading to the development of sustainable training opportunities for informatics and eight of ten Peruvian fellows trained at the University of Washington are now developing informatics programs and an information infrastructure in Peru. In 2007, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia started offering the first graduate diploma program in biomedical informatics in Peru

EVALUACIÓN DE LA CONFIABILIDAD DE LA INFORMACIÓN SANITARIA EN ESPAÑOL SOBRE LA COVID-19 EN GOOGLE

Objectives: To evaluate the reliability of health information in Spanish on COVID-19 in Google, considering the criteria of the HONcode tool. Materials and methods: Observational cross-sectional study. Google web pages were obtained in December 2020 using 4 search terms. The reliability of the health information of the web pages was evaluated using the HONcode tool (version 3.1.3). Also, they were classified according to the source of information and procedence; the statistical analysis was performed considering as significant value for p<0,05. Results: 200 web pages in Spanish were evaluated, 16,5% had the HONcode certificate; belonging, in majority, to the WHO website (33,3%). The main source of information was "academic-professional" (30,0%). Regarding the origin, 33,0% of the web pages were Peruvian, mostly from governmental source (42,4%), but none had the HONcode certificate. HONcode certificate for the web pages were found for all search terms; however, the association was not statistically significant (p=0,876). The first page of results in Google was more likely (32,5%) to contain HONcode certified web pages (p=0,012). Conclusion: At least one of six websites provided reliable health information about COVID-19. Moreover, the presence of WHO websites in providing COVID-19 health information on Google is distinguished. Whereas this study highlights the websites of international organizations, it is necessary to strengthen communication from Peruvian government websites.Objetivo: Evaluar la confiabilidad de la información sanitaria en español sobre la COVID-19 en el motor de búsqueda Google considerando los criterios de la herramienta HONcode. Materiales y métodos: Estudio observacional de corte transversal. Las páginas web de Google se obtuvieron en diciembre del 2020 utilizando 4 términos de búsqueda. Se evaluó la confiabilidad de la información sanitaria de las páginas web mediante la herramienta HONcode (versión 3.1.3). También, se clasificaron según la fuente de información y su procedencia. El análisis estadístico se realizó para un nivel de significancia de p<0,05. Resultados: Se evaluaron 200 páginas web en español, el 16,5% poseían el certificado HONcode siendo en su mayoría del sitio web de la OMS (33,3%). La principal fuente de información fue “académica-profesional” (30,0%). En cuanto a la procedencia, el 33,0% de las páginas web eran peruanas, siendo en su mayoría de tipo gubernamental (42,4%), pero ninguna con certificado HONcode. Se hallaron páginas web con certificado HONcode para todos los términos de búsqueda; sin embargo, la asociación no fue estadísticamente significativa (p=0,876). La primera página de resultados en Google tenía más probabilidad (32,5%) de contener páginas web con certificado HONcode (p=0,012). Conclusión: Solo una de cada seis páginas web proporcionaba información sanitaria confiable sobre la COVID-19. Además, se distingue la presencia de las páginas web de la OMS en proveer información sanitaria sobre la COVID-19 en Google. Si bien este estudio destaca las páginas web de organismos internacionales, se requiere fortalecer la comunicación desde las páginas web gubernamentales peruanas