Newton Minow
July 23, 2009 - The World Health Imaging Alliance (WHIA) is changing its name to World Health Imaging, Telemedicine and Informatics Alliance (WHITIA) and expanding its mission to include bringing access to highly-trained medical professionals and the use of health informatics to help improve healthcare delivery in the developing world. Additionally, WHITIA announced that Newton N. Minow, Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, will chair its Board of Directors.
“We continue to be focused on bringing diagnostic imaging capabilities to health care providers in the developing world,” says Ivy Walker, WHITIA’s CEO. “In support of that, we are also helping medical workers in those countries to access medical specialists in the developed world who can assist with diagnosis. The inclusion of health informatics is a natural extension of our activities since the data and information that will be coming out of these clinical sites can be used to improve the delivery of health care services as well as to inform health officials and funders of important public health trends and resource utilization patterns.”
In appointing Newton Minow chair of WHITIA’s Board of Directors, the organization has tapped a leading advocate for the expansion of telemedicine globally. A former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Mr. Minow has long been a champion of the use of telecommunications technology in the delivery of healthcare. He has a history of distinguished service to numerous organizations including the Mayo Clinic, where he is a trustee emeritus; the RAND Corporation where he served as chairman; the Carnegie Foundation, and the Public Broadcasting Service, where he also served as chairman. Mr. Minow currently serves as vice chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates and as a Life Trustee at Northwestern University and the University of Notre Dame.
“I look forward to serving WHITIA in this capacity and working to help the organization achieve its mission of providing much needed global access to diagnostic imaging and telemedicine,” says Mr. Minow. “Telemedicine is an important extension of WHITIA’s activities given the organization’s focus on bringing sustainable diagnostic solutions to developing countries. By enabling clinical sites to access additional diagnostic support, WHITIA is helping to enhance their long term sustainability.”
The World Health Imaging, Telemedicine and Informatics Alliance (WHITIA) is working to improve the health status and quality of health care received by people in resource-poor areas worldwide by providing communities with access to low cost, digital imaging solutions, medical professionals who can remotely assist with diagnosis and treatment and data that can be used to track public health trends, resource utilization and improve health care delivery. WHITIA works to build and leverage relationships with key stakeholders such as local health authorities, global NGOs, academic institutions and the imaging industry in order to collaborate on the development, deployment and sustaining of affordable imaging and telemedicine solutions.
For more information: www.worldhealthimaging.org