Message From: jreardon@igc.org Date: Wed, Aug 9, 2000, 1:09pm (EDT-3) To: echristian@webtv.net Subject: More information on CRICS V Dear Elizabeth: Thank you for your interest in participating in CRICS V. We hope you can make it. Included is some more information on abstracts (very easy to submit online/ via e-mail); It is probably only for poster session. I'm sure participants will be very eager to hear your experience with Galileo. Perhaps a lap-top display at the poster session can also take place. I'm also sure that the journalistic coverage of the Conference and other aspects of Cuban society is a perfect legitimate reason for leagl travel to Cuba. Your daughter should go along. Do register now. Do submit your abstract ASAP. Best wishes! Juan Reardon, M.D., M.P.H. USA/Cuba InfoMed ============================== Here is more information: ============================== United Nations Secretary-General Kofy Annan recommended a few months ago (4/12/2000) the creation of a world health network through the Internet, to put information technology at the service of third world countries. He also proposed the creation of voluntary corps specialized in advance technology which will train professionals in developing countries in the use of information technology. He made these announcements in Havana, Cuba, while attending the "South Summit" and before the heads of state, ministers and ambassadors of the 133 member countries of the Group of 77 (G-77). Interesting projects are emerging in the Americas and elsewhere in the Third World. Opportunities are emerging for a North-South collaboration in Medical Informatics, in which you can participate. Medical informatics professionals have likely wondered about the "others", the ones in the "global South", and how you could contribute. Here is an open door to start or implement that desire: We are delighted to invite you to attend CRICS V (Fifth Regional [Pan American] Congress on Health Sciences Information) in Havana, Cuba, April 25-27, 2001. The CRICS series, started in 1992, aims to promote an open forum of discussion of substantial themes on the use of information technology in health sciences, and includes a compact program on continuing education. CRICS V will feature three days (4/25,4/26,4/27) of activities including a keynote address, round tables, panels, conferences and continuing education sessions. CRICS V takes place immediately after the II Regional Coordination Meeting of the Virtual Health Library, April 23rd and 24th, 2001, (Palace of the Conventions of Havana), to which you are also welcome. CRICS V is considered one of the most substantial meetings in the field of health sciences information. In 1998, CRICS IV gathered almost 600 participants from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States and Europe. CRICS V is organized and promoted by Pan American Health Organization, through BIREME, the Latin American and Caribbean Center of Health Sciences Information, (Headquarters in Brazil) http://www.bireme.br/bvs/I/ihome.htm which is also responsible for the scientific committee. CRICS V is hosted nationally and co-organized by the National Center for Medical Sciences Information (CNICM), a branch of MINSAP, the Cuban Ministry of Public Health. The theme of CRICS V is: ---------------------------------------------- "Knowledge to change:   Information and knowledge for health equity" ----------------------------------------------             . Knowledge, society and equity             . Information, knowledge and decision making     . Knowledge management in society             . Education, knowledge and development             . Scientific knowledge production and communication     . Information technologies and knowledge management     . The Virtual Health Library as health knowledge base                 in Latin America and the Caribbean   --------------------------------------------   CRICS V OFFICIAL LANGUAGES : English, Spanish, Portuguese   --------------------------------------------   ABSTRACTS:   Presentations in the posters sessions are open to   all participants. The poster should address the main and/or one of the sub-themes of CRICS V. The organizing Committee is making available two categories of posters: in electronic format and in traditional format (in paper).   The professionals and institutions interested in submitting a poster to CRICS V must send to BIREME a 12-15 lines summary including the title, author(s), and affiliation. The final date for submission is November 30th 2000.   Submit via Internet to : crics5@bireme.br or by fax (55 11) 5575-8868.   The International Committee will evaluate the poster abstract submitted and will communicate the decision to the author up to January 15 the 2001.   RETROSPECTIVE DATA: CRICS I (Sao Paulo, 1992), II (Sao Paulo, 1994), III (Rio de Janeiro, 1996) and IV (San Jose, Costa Rica,   1998) can be found at : http://www.bireme.br/bvs/I/icrics.htm   --------------------------------------------   REGISTRATION TO CRICS V:   Before November 30, 2000............$ 100.00       USD  Before March 30, 2001...............$ 150.00       USD  At the beginning of Congress ...... $ 180.00       USD   The registration fee includes Congress case and materials, participation certificate and invitation to the welcome cocktail.   Registrations to CRICS 5 can be made on-line in BIREME up to March 31st, 2001. Book right now and take advantage of the best discounts at     http://www.bireme.br/crics5/E/inscripciones.htm   --------------------------------------------   CRICS V SITE:   CRICS V will take place in Havana's "Palacio de Convenciones" (Convention Center", 60,000 sq.meters, with seating accommodations for 3,800, simultaneous translation equipment and other services).   The "Palacio" is located twenty minutes from downtown Havana and adjacent to a four-star hotel,"PALCO" (PALacio de COnvenciones). Special conference participant packages can be arranged in the USA by the official representative of Havana's Convention Palace in the United States, "Marazul Tours" :   Marazul Tours Inc.: New Jersey.   Phone: 201 319-3900.  Fax:   201 319-9009.  Email: marazul@igc.org   http://www.marazultours.com/   http://www.bireme.br/crics5/E/representantes.htm   --------------------------------------------   LEGAL TRAVEL TO CUBA : Current regulations for US citizens   If traveling to Cuba as part of your professional work or to attend a professional conference you are entitled to travel under what is known as "general license". You do NOT need to request from the U.S. Treasury Department any written document. Upon your return from the conference you just have to state to immigration/customs officers that you traveled under a "general license" to attend an international conference in your field. You can verify this information at:   http://www.treas.gov/ofac/t11cuba.pdf   or call the U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Licensing Division: 202-622-2480.   The current regulations limit your spending in Cuba to $183 a day for accommodations, food and transportation (Money spent on informational materials like books and music is not limited, and you also can bring back $100 worth of other goods of your choosing)   --------------------------------------------   FLYING to CUBA : There are many options to travel to Cuba for this conference. From the US there are many direct flights from Miami, and some from New York, and even one from Los Angeles. From Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean there are many more possibilities.   We recommend :   Cuba Travel Corporation http://www.cubatravelcorp.com/ Marazul Tours (N. Jersey)   http://www.marazultours.com/ Cuba Travel Services (L.A)       (310) 772-2822 Cubana Airlines                 http://www.cubana.cu/ Friendship Tours (CA) http://members.home.net:80/friendship/ Pro Cuba (Florida)                   (305) 827-3000 Taino Tours (Tijuana)           (66) 84-70-01                                                               fax (66) 84-70-77   Viajes Divermex (Cancun)       phone: 52-9-884-5005                                  fax: 52-9-884-2325 ---------------------------------------------- THE CRICS V HOST Cuba is a fascinating country and Havana a lovely city. The Cubans are a very special and proud people. Take this opportunity to meet and connect with them as well as with the attendees from other Latin American countries. This might be the beginning of a long friendship! ==============================================                                           SAVE the dates:   April 25 - 27, 2001                                                                     COME to CRICS V.                                HAVE A GREAT ADVENTURE                                                                               and                               A GREAT PROFESSIONAL MEETING!   Share your expertise in Medical Informatics, and learn what and how the other half of the world is doing in your field.   Your presence will enrich the debates of the Congress and make CRICS V a great meeting in which we can find together pathways and solutions for dissemination and for access of health information.   We hope join you in Havana in the next millennium!!   ============================================   Please distribute this invitation as widely as possible and included it in any newsletters, announcements, news-groups, calendars, etc of any media.                                       Be welcome at the CRICS V site :                 http://www.bireme.br/bvs/I/ihome.htm                                     Feel free to e-mail                for further information :                                                                                 crics5@bireme.br                                         crics5@infomed.sld.cu ============================================== Give us your feedback, concerns, ideas, and suggestions. We are an NGO based in California that strives to bring health the professionals of Cuba and the US closer together. We oppose the US embargo of Cuba. Since 1995 we have sent 1,425 desktop computers for Cuban hospitals and clinics. We want you to meet our Cuban and Latin American friends.   Sincerely, Juan Reardon, M.D., M.P.H.     David Wald, Mechanical Eng     jreardon@igc.org             dwald@igc.org From: echristian@webtv.net (Elizabeth Christian)   To: dwald@igc.org (David Wald) Yes I want to come. Should I register now. ? I found the web site...impressive, and papers from the past excellent. I thought I might do a paper on GALILEO..Georgia's statewide initiative to bring online fulltext data to Georgians...and how .,...or how not..the health professions are being served by this process. I think Georgia is moving ahead possibly faster than most states because of a unque kind of higher education format and also some lottery money availble at a crucial time...with an interested govenor.. If you think this might be a good idea, I need to get hopping on it.... Is there place I should submit an abstract ? Later, Elizabeth