WiRED International, a nonprofit launched in 1997 by Montara resident Gary Selnow, has helped doctors in 11 countries on four continents to access medical information through the Internet. Now it brings "telemedicine" to Iraq.
"This is a large step forward," said Selnow. "The virtue I see in it is that it's providing high-quality information that's interactive."
 This 2003 photo shows Montaran Gary Selnow posing in one of the palaces that once belonged to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. |
"Iraq didn't have access to outside medicine for 15, 20 years" under Saddam Hussein, said Selnow, who made several quiet trips into Iraq to set up a WiRED information center in Baghdad. "What we're doing is helping them catch up."
There are two components, said Selnow, who hopes to take the information-center concept to a higher, interactive level.
One is the costly delivery of computers, monitors, technical devices and satellite equipment, needed since Iraq's infrastructure won't support land-line access.
The second component, called the "back end," is the telemedicine content.
When it's all in place, Iraqi medical professionals can "sit in" on seminars or workshops given by physicians anywhere in the world. And more.
"They'll be able to see someone, ask questions," Selnow said. "It's the next best thing to sitting across a table."
The setup also involves medical students and lessons from afar.
"It's not only doctors talking with doctors, but medical students talking to medical students. That would be rich," Selnow said. And, "Iraqis can teach us how to do a lot with a little. It opens all sort of potentials for exchange of information."
Despite its potential, the program has been touched by tragedy.
Funding for equipment and project testing was provided by the State Department. In early 2003 Selnow went to Iraq as a consultant with the State Department's Jim Mollen, who sought to reconnect Iraq with outside educators.
After Mollen was shot to death by insurgents in Bagdad in 2004, the State Department asked Selnow if WiRED would pick up his work. He did, and the telemedicine project will be dedicated to Mollen.
With that in mind, Selnow looks on healthcare as a "unifier."
"It's not just information. We're trying to bring people from different parts of the world together," he said. "So much divides us. Healthcare is a touchstone."
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