Ebola: A Call To Action For OpenMRS

Paul Biondich | OpenMRS | October 20, 2014

Friends,

The OpenMRS community has long recognized that in many of the countries where our software is used, the public health system is weak. Over the past several months, the world has been faced with the consequences of this weakness in West Africa, as nations struggle to contain the deadly Ebola virus. Without more effective surveillance and more effective treatment facilities on the ground, these countries struggle to contain disease outbreaks quickly, and all too often we see epidemics as a result.

Our immediate goal is to establish a proof-of-concept or “straw man” implementation of OpenMRS that can be used in health care facilities in places affected by this epidemic. We already have a request to support a health facility in Sierra Leone and enquiries from Liberia. If you’ve been around OpenMRS for very long, you’ve heard our story of the floss. Let’s “throw the floss across the canyon” of this epidemic and then work together over the coming months to strengthen the bridge that will help health care providers do their work more efficiently and effectively. We know the combined wisdom of the OpenMRS community can make a valuable contribution to tackling this new challenge...