Bringing digital X-ray technology to those in need

By Rotary International

X-ray clinic

A mother and her child in one of the remote clinics in Guatemala.

By Carlos Frum, past governor of District 6440 and a member of the Rotary Club of Northbrook, Illinois, USA

The line went around the block and people were still coming! It was 2003 and my first trip to Guatemala as a translator for a medical team. Upon my return, I realized that we have no idea in the United States how difficult it is for people in poor countries to get basic health care. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that two thirds of the world’s population doesn’t even have access to simple X-rays.

After several more trips, I resolved, with two other past governors from Rotary District 6440, to do something about this. Bruce Baumberger, Pam Kerr, and I started a project to install 29 digital X-ray systems in remote clinics in Guatemala. We called it HealthRays™.

Children at a remote clinic.

Sending X-rays over the Internet
The Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MOH) of Guatemala and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) signed a memorandum of cooperation with us and we formed a committee in 2011.

The problem in Guatemala is not the lack of equipment, but the absence of …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

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