Beijing, July 3, 2013—Cisco and the United Foundation for Children’s Health (UFCH) have jointly announced the launch of a “Connected Healthy Children China Program.” In addition to a cash donation of RMB 1 million to the program, Cisco has also deployed its collaboration and Cisco WebEx® technology solutions in support of the initiative. Cisco and UFCH have committed the expertise and resources of both parties. Specifically, Cisco has helped UFCH to design, develop and utilize advanced healthcare information and communication technologies in order to enable effective collaboration among all parties involved in delivering care to underserved children in China.
The “Connected Healthy Children China Program” incorporates four aspects: remote diagnosis, improving the professional skills of physicians in remote areas, providing training for special education teachers, and health information exchange. UFCH is currently collaborating with its sister organizations and is inviting senior doctors from UFCH to participate in remote diagnosis and medical examinations, to provide support for the corresponding medical services, and to handle a series of administrative activities including project operation, all on a volunteer basis. Through the Cisco® collaboration platform, senior doctors from UFCH will be able to connect with regions in need -- such as Chengdu -- and this kind of collaborative care, training and health education will be facilitated with junior doctors or caregivers in local orphanages. Cisco and UFCH believe that more children will be able to benefit from professional diagnosis and treatment as well as a higher quality of service provided by this program, thereby raising the healthcare-provision level in local regions. In addition, Chengdu’s special education teachers and caregivers will be able to receive systematic and professional training via Cisco’s collaboration platform, which will help to narrow the gap between local regions and developed areas, and elevate local special education levels.
UFCH has also been able to collaborate with Chengdu Women and Children’s Hospital and Huaxi Hospital via WebEx®, a collaborative network platform. WebEx is able to bring together physicians from a variety of regions and/or subject fields for discussion, in addition to sharing of physical examination reports, and medical images.
The Chengdu Children’s Welfare Institute is the initial pilot site for the “Connected Healthy Children China Program”. The Chengdu Children’s Welfare Institute is a provincial children’s welfare house, which adopts orphans, abandoned babies and homeless children with disabilities. The institute also provides special education, healthcare and rehabilitation for children in need. As one of the largest welfare houses in China, the Chengdu Children’s Welfare Institute has adopted approximate 600 orphans, from newborns to children 14 years old. So far, 15 children have received medical diagnosis via the “Connected Healthy Children China Program.” These diagnoses and treatment involve three separate parties - the patients, local physicians in Chengdu and experts in Beijing - through Cisco’s collaborative network platform. The medical services provided by this program have included treatments for such conditions as complex congenital heart diseases, liver tumors, skin diseases and lymphatic malformations.
“Today children in many remote areas of China are suffering from congenital diseases but may not have a timely cure due to high diagnosis and treatment costs, as well as the unbalanced distribution of healthcare resources,” said Roberta Lipson, CEO of Chindex International and chairman of the Board of United Family Hospitals. “The objective of this joint program is to help as many underserved children as possible to receive quality diagnoses and treatment, enable local healthcare doctors and caregivers to receive more targeted professional trainings and to ensure that patients’ parents obtain relevant information and advice. I believe that our collaboration with Cisco will definitely help to advance the cooperation between different levels of medical experts and institutions to provide better medical care and life-saving surgeries for disadvantaged children.”
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been the foundation of Cisco’s corporate culture and global strategies. As Dr. Yu Yi, senior director of Cisco Corporate Affairs, said: “The Cisco and UFCH ‘Connected Healthy Children China Program’ is an important aspect of Cisco’s ‘Connected Healthy Children’ global CSR program. Our relationship with UFCH and other Chinese institutions is another example of Cisco’s contribution to public welfare and Cisco’s long-term commitment to China.”
“Cisco’s ‘Connected Healthy Children’ CSR program is designed to utilize innovative technologies to improve the health of the next generation. While helping underserved children to gain access to quality healthcare resources, providing professional training and guidance for doctors and caregivers in remote areas, we also hope to increase the efficiency of healthcare delivery system in local regions. Cisco’s technologies for ‘Connecting the Unconnected’ make this hope possible,” Dr. Yu added.
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About United Foundation for Children’s Health (UFCH)
As a registered U.S. charitable organization of the United Family Healthcare (UFH), the United Foundation for Children’s Health (UFCH) began helping children in 2001. UFCH has been dedicated to providing medical care for children from disadvantaged groups for 12 years since then. During this period, UFCH has also helped Chinese children receive medical care as well as surgeries and treatments, and provided education and training for caretakers working in welfare houses.
About Cisco
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