DiData`s Health Alert Network (HAN), implemented in New York City to combat the increased risk of major bioterrorist activities and health threats, is being marketed to all 50 US states.
After September 11, the US government decreed that all 50 states must implement early warning systems.
DiData developed HAN for the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene following the attacks on the World Trade Centre and subsequent anthrax outbreaks.
The portal is an early warning system and provides for the quick distribution of diagnostic treatment and information surrounding unusual disease outbreaks and bioterrorist events.
Andrew Cohen, Dimension Data`s managing director of government services for integration services, says using HAN, messages can be sent to local hospitals and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through pagers, cellphones, e-mail, an interactive communications tool as well as a conferencing solution.
"The city of New York has been successfully using the Dimension Data HAN solution for the last four months. Since September 11 and the subsequent anthrax outbreaks in New York, the US`s largest city has been in the spotlight internationally. The application is being used to manage and distribute information around the SARS epidemic.
"The CDC has mandated that all 50 US states and four major metropolitan cities implement this solution. To this end, the federal government has provided $2 billion dollars." He says that, in reponse to this requirement, DiData has developed a replicable solution that it is marketing to all 50 states and the four cities.
The main features of HAN include a high-speed, secure Internet connection to provide instantaneous access to disease reports and CDC information; early warning systems; the co-ordination of the health department`s response; distance-learning capacity to educate healthcare professionals; and a central library of for researching treatments.
Cohen says DiData believes HAN can be used not only in the US and other first world countries, but in developing nations as well.
"This solution is highly scalable and replicable, not only for other states and commercial clients here in the US but also internationally. We believe this solution can be used globally to combat and contain communicable disease outbreaks such as SARS."
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