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Evénements en Pneumologie et en Allergologie

An Asthma service on the Information Highway

Asthma is so widespread and severe a medical problem that most published articles about it deal with the disease itself. Nowadays, we should emphasize on the human side of the disease : Asthma is of course a source of constant concern to chest physicians and allergologists - whether they are caring for children or adults, whether they have been trained in allergology or not, whether they are working in a hospital or in private practice.

InterAsma, a non-profit organization that operates world-wide, has now created the AsmaNet to help alleviate this concern. The aim of the AsmaNet is to develop and broaden the basis of knowledge about asthma by promoting person-to-person contact using modern means of communication: the information highways that are becoming increasingly widely available, such as the Internet.

Information Network for Asthma

Printed scientific periodicals have and will for the foreseeable future continue to have a key role in validating and disseminating information. However, new tools based on the Information Highways, are emerging in many fields and bring potentially huge benefits. In the case of AsmaNet, for example, as well as other services available on the Internet, this means that plain text, Congress meeting reports, bibliographies and a great deal of other useful information can be made immediately available to users, and circulated quickly through mailing lists. Subscribers to the service can discuss matters raised at will, creating a sort of "Off-line Interactive Information System".

A new culture

Individual experience is unvaluable and cannot be replaced. Until now, however, it has often been quite difficult for physicians to take advantage of their colleagues' experience, except through informal contacts, "ear-say" during Conventions, or from the occasional publication of a clinical case report in the literature. These are of course usefull methods, but rather inefficient and time consuming fot the busy physician. The ASMANET will bring chest physicians and allergologists a new way of life, a new culture they can explore. Using the Information Highways, it provides a simple means of a dealy exchange of information about asthma, either on a person-to-person basis (via Email) or with a group of colleagues with similar interests (via mailing lists). Subscribers can discuss special clinical issues, ask questions to a group of people with similar backgrounds, send requests for information to colleagues around the world ... the possibilities are virtually unlimited.

So, how can readers obtain a better understanding and a better "feel" for what the AsmaNet is all about ? The answer is simple : one only needs access to the Internet, either directly or via one of the many gateways now available, and can then watch the daily exchanges of information. An MD might ask colleagues on the same "mailing list" about how best to use a particular drug, because the information he has available is confusing or contradictory. Another might ask for information about a position that is about to become vacant in a hospital. A biologist might then announce a breakthrough in measuring blood CO2 that he has made, as a result of pressure from the management to reduce costs. These are just some examples that can take place on the AsmaNet.

Some physicians may not yet be used to communicating using these types of methods. However, the potential benefits are so great that we should all be willing to try out this new way of life. The AsmaNet is of course completely voluntary: Everyone has the right to choose what information he or she wishes to receive, or to disseminate.

The Asmanet and Democracy

It has been said that the Internet is redefining or reinventing democracy. One can express oneself freely and practically without constraint. The only restriction is that the unwritten "laws" which have developed spontaneously amond users, commonly known as "netiquette", should be adhered to. There is a saying in politics to the effect that to stay in power, one must maintain secrecy. The Internet shows that this need not be true: everything is in the "public domain".

. Asmanet Congrès Conçue et réalisée par: Michel Godard (at) Top
Mentions légales
Date de création: 10 Janvier 1995-Dernière mise à jour: 12-Jui-2007
Le secret des correspondances transmises sur le réseau Internet n'est pas garanti.
Toute personne citée dispose d'un droit d'accès, de modification, de rectification et de suppression des données le concernant (art. 34 de la loi "Informatique et Libertés" n° 78-17 du 6 janvier 1978). Pour l'éxercer adressez-vous à Michel Godard (at)