DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Handheld Medical Computers

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Handheld Medical Computers
By Gary Garriott

Broadcast: Monday, November 15, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Development Report.

Computers are increasingly important in health care. But can they also help poor people escape poverty? Vikram Sheel Kumar thinks so. Mister Kumar is a doctor, an engineer and the head of a small business in Boston, Massachusetts. And, in September, this twenty-eight-year-old received an award for Technology in Service to Humanity¹. That award came from Technology Review magazine.

His goal is to improve health care in poor nations with the help of computers small enough to hold in one hand. These devices are known as personal digital assistants, or P.D.A.'s.

Doctor Kumar started his company two years ago. It is called Dimagi, which means "smart guy" in Hindi. His parents came from India. There, Dimagi computer programs are used to organize medical information on more than seventy thousand patients.

Doctor Kumar says health care workers had problems at first, but then learned quickly how to use the devices. Nurses no longer have to carry heavy documents whenever they travel to villages. And they no longer have to copy large amounts of health information by hand.

In South Africa, health workers are using a Dimagi program for a different purpose in the KwaZulu-Natal area. They use it to provide patients with results from tests for H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. People who get tested must enter a secret identification² code to see the results.

And, in Boston, children with diabetes³ are using a Dimagi system to learn about their disease and how to control it. The software includes games and ways for the children to communicate with others with diabetes.

Doctor Vikram Kumar says it is important to get patients involved in their own health care by helping⁴ them gain information. He says there are endless possible uses for this technology, especially in developing countries. And he urges people to suggest ways to improve it. Dimagi programs are written in code that is open to anyone.

You can learn more about Dimagi at dimagi.com. The name is spelled d-i-m-a-g-i.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Gary Garriott. This is Gwen Outen.

1 humanity   

n.人类，[总称]人(性)，人道[pl.]人文学科

参考例句：

• Such an act is a disgrace to humanity.这种行为是人类的耻辱。
• We should treat animals with humanity.我们应该以仁慈之心对待动物。

2 identification   

n.视为同一，证明同一，确认

参考例句：

• He's made a formal identification of the body.他正式确认了死者身份。
• We should have identification card on the person when we go out.我们外出时应随身携带身份证。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。