The 10th edition of the GNU Health Conference – GHCon2025 – will be this December 20th and it will be broadcasted from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
In the context of GHCon, it will take place the XVIII International Workshop on eHealth in Emerging Economies (IWEEE). IWEEE is about Social Medicine and addressing the reality of the underprivileged around the world. We will be sharing experiences with those working in field of Social Medicine.
Presentation submissions and guidelines
The deadline for submitting your presentation is Sunday, December 7th, and the presentation in PDF needs to be turned over by Monday December 15th.
This year GHCon will be online, and the presentations will be delivered via Jitsi. Each presentation has a 30 minute slot, plus and additional 10 minutes for questions. We count on your cooperation so we can have a smooth program and transition between speakers.
We will be publishing the program by Wednesday, December 10th.
GNU Health en español
Given the vast amount of implementations and the large Spanish community of GNU Health, this year we’ll divide the talks in two sections based on the language of the presentations and talks:
Morning session : English
Afternoon session: Spanish
We believe this model enriches GHCon and provides an opportunity for those who want to share their experiences in Spanish. Of course, everyone is welcome to join both sessions. The afternoon session is also good in terms of timezone for our friends in Latin America.
If you want to get the coolest t-shirt, and, most importantly, support our cause for freedom, equity and privacy in healthcare, you can buy the GHCon2025 from the GNU Solidario online store.
Happy Hacking!
We are excited to deliver this new edition of annual GNU Health conference, the perfect moment of the year to get together and keep on building the community around the world.
Looking forward to seeing you at GHCon2025, the Free Software and Social Medicine conference!
Luis Falcon receives the One World One Family Humanitarian award in the field of Healthcare from Sri Madhusudan Sai at the World Cultural Festival, Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli, India
Muddenahalli, August 17th 2025
Dr. Luis Falcón, author of GNU Health and founder of GNU Solidario, received the One World One Family Humanitarian award in the field of Healthcare from Sri Madhusudan Sai, founder of One World One Family mission.
Sri Madhusudan Sai delivering the One World One Family Humanitarian Award to Luis Falcón. on the right, Sri B.N. Narasimha Murthy
The award ceremony took place during the World Cultural Festival in Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli, India, this Monday, August 17th.
The award reads:
Citation ONE WORLD ONE FAMILY HUMANITARIAN AWARD 2025
in the category of Healthcare is hereby conferred on
Dr. Luis Falcón of Spain on 17 August 2025 at Sathya Sai Grama, Muddenahalli
A Pioneer in Open Science for Global Healthcare
Dr Luis Falcón is honored for his outstanding contributions to advancing social medicine, ethical research, and healthcare accessibility worldwide. He is the founder of GNU Solidario and creator of GNU Health, a United Nations-adopted, award-winning health information system. His work has transformed hospitals and research institutions across the globe.
Through open-source innovation, compassionate care models, and his advocacy for cruelty-free, human-relevant research, Dr Falcón bridges medicine, technology, and ethics to serve both humanity and the planet. His dedication to integrating genomics, environmental health, and precision medicine continues to inspire efforts toward a more equitable and sustainable future for global health.
His commitment to health equity continues to inspire hope for a future where healthcare is truly ethical, inclusive, and accesible to all.
Sadugru Sri Madhusudan Sai Founder, One World One Family Mission
At GNU Solidario, we are honored for this award from such a noble Mission as One World One Family, that shares the spirit of delivering universal health and education across the world. In November, the One World One Family mission will inaugurate the largest free hospital in the world, a 600 bed tertiary hospital that will keep on providing universal healthcare, free of charge, for those who need it most, not just in India, but across the globe.
Luis Falcón during his speech at Sathya Sai Grama auditorium
Whether is building hospitals, providing shelter and free education to the underprivileged or writing Free/Libre software to empower health professionals and their patients, we all have a common goal: Freedom and dignity to anyone in this world.
In 2011 – almost fifteen years ago from now – it was Richard Stallman, creator of the GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation, who gave Luis Falcón the award for Social Benefit for the GNU Health project.
Since then, the GNU Health Hospital Information System has been adopted by countries Ministries of Health, multilateral organizations, laboratories, hospitals, health professionals, academic and research institutions across the world.
We are humbled and full of gratitude, joy and commitment to keep on fighting in advancing Social Medicine. In these times of darkness, the One World One Family mission is a beacon of hope, and we are very proud to be part of it.
The One World One Family Humanitarian in Healthcare awards beside the GNU and FSF award to GNU health for Social benefit
We want to make this award extensive to all the GNU community, and to any of you around the world that writes Free/Libre software for the betterment of the society.
Jornada: “Aportes del sistema libre GNU Health al cuidado de la salud: experiencias en Honduras y Argentina” – Viernes 13 de junio 2025 – Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos
Jornada: “Aportes del sistema libre GNU Health al cuidado de la salud: experiencias en Honduras y Argentina”
📅 Viernes 13 de Junio 📍 Centro de Innovación, Emprendimiento y Vinculación 🏛 Facultad de Ingeniería – UNER
En esta jornada exploraremos las experiencias prácticas y los avances en la implementación de GNU Health en el primer nivel de atención en salud. En el marco de la Alianza Académica “GNU Health – UNER”, contaremos con la presencia de docentes invitados de la UNITEC (Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana, Honduras), gracias al Programa de Movilidad Internacional Docente (PROMID) de la Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos (UNER).
Esta jornada es una oportunidad para: ✅ Conocer las últimas actualizaciones de GNU Health directamente de su creador, el Dr. Luis Falcón (GNU Solidario). ✅ Descubrir casos reales de implementación en Argentina (CAPS D’Angelo) y Honduras (Municipio del Níspero). ✅ Participar en talleres prácticos para aprender a instalar y utilizar el sistema. ✅ Conectar con profesionales y académicos comprometidos con la salud pública y las tecnologías libres.
Aportes de GNU Health al primer nivel de atención, una mirada retrospectiva. Bioing. Carlos Scotta y Bioing. Ingrid Spessotti (Grupo de Estudios en Salud Pública y Tecnologías Aplicadas, FIUNER)
9:45
Experiencia en CAPS D’Angelo. Historia y presente de GNU Health como herramienta de gestión del cuidado de la salud – Lic. Teresita Calzia, Claudia Gudiño y equipo del CAPS
10:30
Experiencia en el Municipio del Níspero. Honduras – Ing. Lucy Rodas e Ing. Elvin Deras (UNITEC, Honduras)
11:15
Presentación de la nueva versión de GNU Health – Dr. Luis Falcón (GNU Solidario)
12:00
Break
Taller de implementación del sistema
14:00
Primeros pasos con GNU Health: instalación y puesta en marcha del sistema – Ing. Elvin Deras (UNITEC, Honduras)
15:00
Conociendo GNU Health: principales funcionalidades. Inga. Lucy Rodas (UNITEC, Honduras), Bioinga Maia Iturain, Bioinga. Ingrid Spessotti, Bioing Francisco Moyano (Grupo de Estudios en Salud Pública y Tecnologías Aplicadas, FIUNER)
16:00
Break
Proyectos en curso
16:20
Empoderando a la comunidad: Desarrollo de un Portal Paciente para GNU Health – Ana Roskopf
16:40
PID UNER: adaptando el sistema GNU Health para enfermería de salud mental – Aldana Gagliardi
17:10
Incorporando sistemas para el acompañamiento y seguimiento en terreno – Bioinga. Maia Iturain
Cierre
17:30
El sueño de un sistema interoperable: aspectos técnicos y políticos de la salud digital – Lic Mario Puntín, Bioing. Francisco Moyano, Dr. Fernando Sassetti.
The government of Suriname has adopted GNU Health for the Public Healthcare system.
Suriname has adopted GNU Health Hospital and Health Information System for their Public Healthcare system.
The adoption of GNU Health was announced during the press release celebrated last Friday, May 9th in Paramaribo, in the context of the country healthcare digitization campaign. They defined GNU Health as “An open source system that is both accessible and scalable”1. During the event, the Suriname Patient Portal and My Health App were also announced.
Press release. From left to right: Prof. Dr Jerry Toelsie, Minister Amar Ramadhin, Dr Aloysius Koendjbihari and Mr. Richard Mendes
The Minister of Health, Dr. Amar Ramadhin, made emphasis on the benefits of this digital transformation. “We move away from paper files and work towards greater efficiency and patient-oriented care experience”.
Digitization is supported by the IS4HIT Information Systems for Health Information Technology) program, an initiative of the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), whose delegates where at the conference, together with local health professionals.
The GNU Health Hospital and Health Information System – from the socioeconomic determinants of health to the molecular basis of disease
The GNU Health rollout will be done in phases throughout the different public health centers, starting at the Regional Service Centers (RGDs). The main focus is on Primary Care. Some of the tasks in the initial phase will be demographics, patient management, appointments, medical encounters, prescriptions, complementary tests orders and reporting. Training sessions to the local health professionals and technical team are being conducted, as well as the localization to Suriname.
Minister Ramadhin declared: “[Healthcare] Digitization is not an end in itself but a powerful means to make care more human-oriented, safer and more efficient.” . That’s where GNU Health fits right in. The Hospital and Health Information System of GNU Health has Social Medicine and primary care at its core. It excels in health promotion and disease prevention. When properly implemented and used, GNU Health is way more than just an Electronic Medical Record or a Hospital Management Information System. It empowers health professionals to assess the socioeconomic determinants of health and disease, taking a proactive approach to prevent and tackle the root of the diseases at individual, family and society level. The world is facing a pandemic of non-transmissible diseases. Obesity, diabetes, depression, cancer and neurodegenerative conditions are on the rise, with a appalling impact on the underprivileged. GNU Health will be a great ally for nurses, physicians, nutritionists and social workers of Suriname to find and engage those at higher risk. in the community.
The fact that GNU Health is Free/Libre software allows Suriname to download, study the system and adapt it to their needs and legislation, free of any kind of vendor lock-in. After all, health is -or it should be- a non-negotiable human right.
GNU Health is now part of Suriname to deliver a sustainable, interoperable, standard-based, privacy oriented, scalable digital healthcare solution for the country public health system.
A Digital Public Good. In 2022 GNU Health was declared a Digital Public Good by the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA). By definition, a Digital Public Good is open-source software, open data, open AI models, open standards, and open content that adhere to privacy and other applicable best practices, do no harm by design and are of high relevance for attainment of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This definition stems from the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
We are very proud and excited to see GNU Health deployed in Suriname national public health system and wish them the very best embracing the system as we envision it, a social project with some technology behind.
About GNU Health
GNU Health is an open science, community driven project fromGNU Solidario, a non-profit humanitarian organization focused on Social Medicine. Our project has been adopted by public hospitals, research and academic institutions, governments and multilateral organizations around the world.
GNU Health is a GNU official package, awarded with the Free Software Foundation award of Social benefit and declared a Digital Public Good.
We are very happy to announce that the upcoming version of GNU Health Hospital Information System has entered feature-complete alpha stage. This upcoming version of GNU Health HIS 5.0 supposes over a year of work and is the largest release in terms of functionality and refactoring.
GNU Health HIS 5.0 is expected to be released by the end of June.
This new release comes after over a year of development to deliver state-of-the-art libre technology and user experience. In a nutshell:
Tryton 7.0 LTS support
New functionality for patient procedures and medical interventions
Improved reporting and analytics
Enhanced the Laboratory Information System (GNU LIMS – Occhiolino)
New features on patient obstetric history and pregnancy related evaluations
Improved ergonomics and views on demographics and patient related information.
Improved medical genetics and family history taking. Update to the latest genes, proteins and natural variants datasets from UniProt and HUGO
Enhanced socoeconomic and family functionalty assessment
Extensively revised Medical Imaging, DICOM worklists and Orthanc packages
Reorganize nursing and ambulatory care packages
Enhanced patient body composition and anthropometrics
Enhanced “Focus on” patient section, including automated settings and mental health
New insurance and billing features for medical interventions and insurance plans.
Improved patient safety and allergic conditions checks and prescription writing
On the technical side we have worked on:
Migration to Python Poetry and pyproject.toml from setuptools
Increased modularity and minimize dependencies among packages
Simplified installation and administration (Virtual machine images, pip, ansible)
Improved stability using virtual environment in the installation
Over 30 localization and language teams at Codeberg.
At this point, our focus in on testing, translation, packaging and documentation. In the coming days we’ll migrate our community server so we can all test the upcoming version.
For those of you on GNU Health 4.4, please start thinking on the migration project to GH HIS 5.0. This new version is a major leap that delivers many benefits, so we highly encourage you to upgrade. As always, the migration methods and tools are included.
We’d like to invite you to translate GNU Health at Codeberg weblate translation instance and to report any issues you may find during this period.
GNU Health is a Libre, community driven project from GNU Solidario, a non-profit humanitarian organization focused on Social Medicine. Our project has been adopted by public and private health institutions and laboratories, multilateral organizations and national public health systems around the world.
The GNU Health project provides the tools for individuals, health professionals, institutions and governments to proactively assess and improve the underlying determinants of health, from the socioeconomic agents to the molecular basis of disease. From primary health care to precision medicine.
The following are the main components that make up the GNU Health ecosystem:
Hospital Management (HMIS)
Social Medicine and Public Health
Laboratory Management (Occhiolino)
Personal Health Record (MyGNUHealth)
Bioinformatics and Medical Genetics
Thalamus and Federated health networks
GNU Health embedded on Single Board devices
GNU Health is a GNU (www.gnu.org) official package, awarded with the Free Software Foundation award of Social benefit. GNU Health has been declared a Digital Public Good ,adopted by many hospitals, governments and multilateral organizations around the globe.
We’re excited to announce the IX International GNU Health Conference, that will take place in beautiful Sicily, Italy, at the University of Palermo this December 15th.
Mount Etna rising over suburbs of Catania, Sicily (Wikimedia)
The GNU Health Conference (GHCon) is the annual conference that brings together enthusiasts and developers of GNU Health, the Libre digital health ecosystem. The conference will have thematic sessions, lightning talks and implementation cases to get to know the GNU Health and other Free/Libre software communities from around the world.
We will show the upcoming features of the Health and Hospital Information System, standards, security, privacy, the GNU Health Federation and MyGNUHealth (the Personal Health Record).
GHCon2024 – The IX International GNU Health Conference
The XVII International Workshop on eHealth in Emerging Economies (IWEEE) is about Social Medicine and addressing the reality of the underprivileged around the world. There will be workshops to debate, and share experiences from humanitarian organizations and from those working in field of Social Medicine.
In the evening we will announce and honor the winners of the GNU Health Social Medicine awards.
We are counting on you to get the most out of the conference. Most importantly, we want you to have fun, feel at home, and enjoy being part of the GNU Health community.
Sea-Eye Search and Rescue missions in the Mediterranean and how GNU Health can help them
The title of this article, “Migrar, migrant, migràrem“, comes from a beautiful poem written by Laia Porcar[1], that inspired the strikingly profound painting by Sara Belles [2] “Jo per tu, fill meu“. The artists reflect the migrants ordeal to provide a better life to their children and families, even at the cost of losing their own lives.
GNU Health[3] is a Social project with some technology behind and the mission at Sea-Eye is one of the best examples. After all, GNU Solidario[4] is a NGO that focuses in the advancement of Social Medicine.
We live a world of injustice. Concentration of power, social gradient and poverty rates keep on the rise. Artificial intelligence is on the hands of mega private corporations, targeting our privacy and feeding the macabre business of war. The fight for scarce natural resources such as lithium or coltan creates coups in impoverished countries. Nature and non-human animals are used and abused as mere commodities. Our world turns a blind eye to the systematic crushing and eradication of civilian population by powerful armies. As a result, we live in a world where migration is not a choice, but the only way out for millions of human beings, even at the risk of becoming anonymous victims in the Atlantic ocean or Mediterranean sea mass graveyards.
“Jo per tu, fill meu”, by Sara Belles
But there is hope. The Sea-Eye mission is the end result of a network of solidarity, cooperation and empathy. The Free Software movement started by Richard Stallman[5]; Julian Sassenscheidt message in Mastodon and his presentation at GNU Health Con 2023[6] ; The work of our representative in Germany, Gerald Wiese; the Chaos Computer Club[7]; the team from L’Aurora[8] providing logistic support to the Search and Rescue vessels; the phenomenal Sea-Eye family who made me feel at home: The cook, crew on deck, the logistics and medical team who stood stoically intensive hours of GNU Health training. Of course, Selene, the heart of GNU Solidario and the one that looks after the human and non-human family members while I’m away.
You will hardly see these people in the news, because most corporate-backed media neglect them and their organizations. Unlike some billionaire “philanthropists” that take the media spotlight, these anonymous heroes stand on the right side of history, making a difference on the present and future of those who need it most, with very limited resources.
Collage of several pictures during my stay at the Sea-eye
We’re very happy and proud to see that GNU Health can be of help to Sea-Eye in tasks such as guests registration, health evaluations, reporting, statistics and stock management. This is just the beginning and we will be optimizing and adding functionality on successive missions. That said, GNU Health will always play a secondary role compared to picking up somebody from the water and giving them a welcoming hug. Again, we’re a social project with a bit of technology behind.
Drawings made by the children rescued at the Sea-eye
I’d like to finish with a reflection on the picture I took to some of the drawings done by children during their stay at the Sea-Eye. The drawings exist because the Sea-eye crew rescued those kids. Otherwise, their corpses would be at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea, along with thousands who tragically perished trying to find dignity in this world. Thank you, Sea-eye. You are priceless.
A final note: shame on those countries and governments that detain and punish Search and Rescue vessels. Saving lives is not a crime.
Love, freedom and happy hacking
You can obtain Sara Belles painting and Laia Porcar poem from L’Aurora solidarity shop[8]
We’re very happy to announce that “Caminos cruzados”, a Spanish non-for-profit organization, has signed an agreement with GNU Solidario to implement GNU Health in health institutions from Gambia.
María Eugenia Ramos, president of the organization traveled to Gran Canaria to meet with Luis Falcón, president of GNU Solidario to formalize the agreement and to plan the next actions in the Gambia.
During these three days we went through the main functionality of the GNU Health HMIS, with focus in the areas of Social Medicine, Primary Care and Public Health.
Classroom before the renovation (source: Caminos Cruzados)
Caminos Cruzados and GNU Solidario share the goals of health and education are indivisible entities. In fact education is health, and there is no healthy person or society without education.
Current state of some classrooms after renovation process (Source: Caminos Cruzados)
In the area of health, the NGO collaborates with the Ndungu Kebbeh health center, that takes care of a population around 8000 people, in addition to the surrounding villages.
Ndungu Kebbeh health center (Source: Caminos Cruzados)
We are very excited about this agreement, and can’t wait to start collaborating with Caminos Cruzados and the local team in Gambia to implement GNU Health in the different Health institutions. GNU Health will definitely help optimizing the internal processes and resources in the health institutions, and most importantly, will contribute to optimize the health promotion and disease prevention programs for the betterment of their people.
Hospital Escuela de Salud Mental chooses GNUHealth to improve their resources, clinical records and patient management
The World Health Organization defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Unfortunately, this definition is far from being a reality in our societies. Instead of embracing the system of health, we live in the system of disease, ruled by a reactive, reductionist and unsustainable model of healthcare. The beautiful noble art and science of medicine is ill. Financial institutions and giant technological corporations are removing the human factor from medicine, transforming people and patients into clients. They are reducing the non-negotiable human right to healthcare to a privilege of a few.
Coming back to the formal definition of health, in the current system of disease very little is taken into account from the social and mental well-being . Today, many people with mental health conditions not only have to deal with the physiopathological aspects of the disorder, but also with the stigma, exclusion and invisibilization from the society.
But there is hope. Medicine is a social science, and GNUHealth is a social project with some technology behind. That feeling of optimism and hope has been reinforced in last week trip to Argentina and their people. In the end, medicine is about people interacting and taking care of people. Is about people before patients. I know them well, because I did my medical career in Argentina.
Group picture with health professionals from HESM, UNER, Government officials and GNU Solidario at the entrance of the leading Public Mental Health Hospital in Entre Ríos, Argentina
The Mental Health Hospital has chosen GNUHealth to improve the management of the institution resources, as well as to provide the best medical care for their community, both in outpatient and inpatient settings. Being able to properly identify every person who needs attention, and knowing the socio-sanitary, medical and clinical history in real time will make a big difference in the care of the individual.
The implementation of GNUHealth in this health institution will be lead by Prof. Dr. Fernando Sassetti and the department of public health studies of the University of Entre Ríos in the context of the GNU Health Alliance of Academic and Research Institutions agreement signed with GNU Solidario.
Health is an equilibrium of the inseparable and interconnected physical, social, mental and spiritual domains. Medicine is about taking into consideration and maintaining this body-mind-spirit-environment balance. This holistic approach to medicine is encoded in the genome of every nurse, psychologist, social worker and doctor from the Mental Health Hospital and the Primary care centers I got to know during these years in Entre Ríos, Argentina.
GNU Solidario and the Spanish NGO Fundación La Vicuña ORL have signed a cooperation agreement to promote and implement the Health and Hospital Management component from GNUHealth in Africa and Spain
On Thursday, Feb 23rd, 2023, GNU Solidario and the Spanish NGO Fundación La Vicuña ORL have signed a cooperation agreement to promote and implement the Health and Hospital Management component from GNUHealth in those areas and institutions where Fundación La Vicuña has activities, mainly Spain and countries in Africa.
Fundación La Vicuña is a non-profit organization founded 15 years ago by a group of physicians, mostly ear, nose and throat specialists in Cadiz, Spain.
GNU Solidario and Fundacion La Vicuña share the goal of improving the lives of the underprivileged, through Social Medicine and universal access to healthcare. GNU Health will be a very valuable tool to assess the socioeconomic determinants of health and to minimize the impact in the vulnerable population, both in Spain and in the African continent. GNU Health will improve the management of health institutions and the daily medical practice where Fundación La Vicuña has missions. Patient evaluations, medical records, prescriptions, laboratory, surgeries and inpatient/hospitalization will be some of the areas that will benefit from GNU Health HMIS.
Casimiro García, president and founder of Fundación La Vicuña and Luis Falcón, founder and president of GNU Solidario, formalized the cooperation agreement this Thursday. In the coming weeks, GNU Solidario will train the team from Fnd. La Vicuña in the use of GNUHealth, and a development environment will be rolled out.
We are thrilled and looking forward to working hand in hand with Fundación la Vicuña, to put into practice the philosophy of open science and Libre software in healthcare for the betterment of our societies, delivering Social Medicine and dignity to those who need it most.
Fundación Jérôme Lejeune Argentina adopts GNU Health for the research and management of Trisomy 21 and other intellectual disabilities of genetic origin.
We start 2023 with exciting news for the medical and scientific community!
GNU Health has been adopted by Fundación Jérôme Lejeune, a leading organization in the research and management of trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) and other intellectual disabilities of genetic origin.
Jérôme Lejeune foundation has its headquarters in France, with offices in Argentina, the United States and Spain.
On December 2022, the faculty of engineering from the University of Entre Rios, represented by the dean Diego Campana and the head of the school of Public Health, Fernando Sassetti, formalized the agreement with the director of the Jêrome Lejeune foundation in Argentina, Luz Morano.
The same month, I met in Madrid with the medical director and IT team of Fundación Jérôme Lejeune Spain.
Luz Morano declared “[GNU Health] goes beyond the Foundation, providing the health professionals the specific features to manage a patient with trisomy 21. We are putting a project in the hands of humanity“
[GNU Health] goes beyond the Foundation, providing the health professionals the specific features to manage a patient with trisomy 21. We are putting a project in the hands of humanity
Luz Morano, director of Fundación Jérome Lejeune, Argentina
Morano also stated: “GNU Health will pave the road for the medical management, and let us focus on our two other missions: Research and the defense of patient rights“
GNU Health counts with specific modules for genomics and bioinformatics
The agreement is in the context of the GNU Health Alliance of Academic and Research Institutions that UNER has with GNU Solidario. In this sense, Fernando Sassetti explained “It provides tools for an integrative approach of those people with certain pathologies that due to the reduced number are not managed in the best way. This will benefit the organizations and health professionals, that today lack the means to do so in the best way and timely manner. It benefits the patients, in their right to have an integral health record.”
Research and Open Science
The adoption of GNUHealth by the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation opens new exciting avenues for the scientific community. In addition to the clinical management and medical history, GNU Health will enable scientists to dive into the fields of genomics, epigenetics and exposomics, gathering and processing information from multiple contexts and subjects, thanks to the distributed nature of the GNU Health Federation.
The GNU Health HMIS counts many packages and features, some of them of special interest for this project. In addition to the specific customizations for the foundation, the packages already present in GNUHealth, such as obstetrics, pediatrics, genomics, socioeconomics or lifestyle will provide a holistic approach to the person with trisomy 21 and other related conditions.
All of this will be done using exclusively Free/Libre software and open science.
People before Patients
Trisomy 21 poses challenges for the individual, their family, health professionals and the society. The scientific community needs to push the research to shed light on the etiology, physiopathology and associated clinical manifestations, such as heart defects, blood disorders or Alzheimer’s.
Most importantly, as part of the scientific community, we must put a stop to the discrimination and stigmatization. We must tear down the barriers and walls built on our societies that prevent the inclusion of individuals with trisomy 21.
As part of this effort, GNU Health provides the WHO International Classification on Functioning, disability and health (ICF). In other words, is not just the health condition or disorder we may have, but how the environmental factors and barriers influence the normal functioning and integration as individuals in the society. Many times, those physical, artificial barriers present in our daily lives are way more pernicious than the condition itself.
The strong focus of GNU Health in Social Medicine, and the way we perceive medicine as a social science will help improving the life of the person living with trisomy 21, and contribute to the much needed healing process in our societies. We need to work on the molecular basis of the health conditions, but little can be done if without empathetic, inclusive and supportive societies so people can live and enjoy life with dignity, no matter their health or socioeconomic status.
Projects like this represent the spirit of GNU Health and make me immensely proud to be part of this community.
Happy and healthy hacking! Luis Falcon, MD President, GNU Solidario
On a day like this, October 12th, 2008, I registered the “Medical” project at SourceForge. Fourteen years later, GNU Health has become the Libre digital health ecosystem used by governments, hospitals, laboratories, research institutions and health professionals around the globe.
I want to sincerely thank all the professionals who believed in the project since early on… from small clinics in the African rain forest, to many public primary care institutions in Argentina, to the largest hospital in India and Asia (AIIMS).
GNU Health, the Libre digital health ecosystem
Institutions such as the University of Entre Rios in Argentina, Leibniz University Hanover, the United Nations Institute for Global Health, the World Health organization and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI), Digital Public Goods Alliance, have helped the GNU Health project, by providing training, implementations or valuable resources in areas related to coding standards and medical genetics.
Many thanks to our sponsors, particularly Thymbra and openSUSE who have been supporting GNU Health since day one, sponsoring our annual congress (GNUHealthCon). In addition, openSUSE has donated raspberry pi devices for development and for implementation projects, as well as packaging GNU Health for their distribution. Thank you Fosshost, for all this years of hosting the GNU Health HMIS and the BigBlueButton for our conferences!
Thank you European Open Source Observatory Repository (OSOR) / Joinup and the Free Software Foundation Europe for your work in making GNU Health a reality in Europe, specially in the Public Health sector.
Immense gratitude to the GNU operating system, particularly, to Richard Stallman -father of the Free Software movement- who in 2011 declared GNU Health an official GNU project. Since that day, all the components of the GH ecosystem are hosted in Savannah.
GNU Health is an official Package
The GNU Health ecosystem would not exist today without the Libre Software community. Excellent Libre projects like Tryton, LibreOffice, PostgreSQL, Flask, Python, GNUPG, Apache, and many others make GNU Health a reality. We’re so happy to count with our sister community Orthanc, a great Libre Medical Imaging project that makes the perfect GNU Health partner in hospital settings and diagnostic imaging.
Last but not least: Thank you to the core team and to the community around the world: Developers, testers, translators, artists, documentation team, podcasters and journalists … I can not name you all… but the success of GNU Health belongs to you.
On a day like this, 14 years ago, the revolution for freedom and equity in healthcare began. And this is just starting…. at GNU Solidario, we’ll keep on advancing Social Medicine, and fighting so health remains a non-negotiable human right, no matter where you live. After all, GNU Health is a Social project with a little bit of technology behind.
The Spanish NGO, Cirugía Solidaria, chooses GNU Health as their Hospital and Lab Management System
The GNU Health community keeps growing, and that makes us very proud! This time, the Spanish non-profit organizationCirugía Solidaria has chosen GNU Health as their Hospital and Lab Management system.
Cirugía Solidaria was born in 2000 by a team of surgeons, anesthetists and nurses from “Virgen de la Arrixaca Hospital”, in Murcia, Spain, with the goal to provide medical assistance and to perform surgeries to underprivileged population and those in risk of social exclusion. Currently, Cirugía Solidaria counts with a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals around Spain that just made its 20th anniversary of cooperation.
GNUHealth Hospital Management client for Cirugía Solidaria
Around a month ago I received a message from Dr. Cerezuela and Dr Gil, expressing their willingness to be part of the GNU Health community. Their main missions currently are focused, but not limited, to the African continent.
Source: Cirugía Solidaria
After several conferences and meetings, this August 1st 2022, Cirugía Solidaria and GNU Solidario signed an agreement to cooperate in the implementation, training and maintenance of the GNU Health Hospital Management and Lab Information System in those countries and health institutions where Cirugía Solidaria will be present.
Source: Cirugía Solidaria
This is very exciting. We have many projects in different countries from Africa, and working with Cirugía Solidaria will help to generate more local capacity, to cover the needs of those health professionals and their population.
This is not just about surgeries or health informatics. GNU Health will allow Cirugía Solidaria to create sustainable projects. They will have unified clinical and surgical histories, telemedicine; assess the nutritional and educational status of the population, and many other socioeconomic determinants of health and disease.
I want to give our warmest welcome to the team of Cirurgía Solidaria, and we are very much looking forward to cooperating with this great organization, for the betterment our our societies, and for those that need it most.
About GNU Health
The GNU Health project provides the tools for individuals, health professionals, institutions and governments to proactively assess and improve the underlying determinants of health, from the socioeconomic agents to the molecular basis of disease. From primary health care to precision medicine.
GNU Health is a Libre, community driven project from GNU Solidario, a non-profit humanitarian organization focused on Social Medicine. Our project has been adopted by public and private health institutions and laboratories, multilateral organizations and national public health systems around the world.
The GNU Health project provides the tools for individuals, health professionals, institutions and governments to proactively assess and improve the underlying determinants of health, from the socioeconomic agents to the molecular basis of disease. From primary health care to precision medicine.
The following are the main components that make up the GNU Health ecosystem:
Social Medicine and Public HealthHospital Management (HMIS)
Laboratory Management (Occhiolino)
Personal Health Record (MyGNUHealth)
Bioinformatics and Medical Genetics
Thalamus and Federated health networks
GNU Health embedded on Single Board devices
GNU Health is a GNU (www.gnu.org) official package, awarded with the Free Software Foundation award of Social benefit, among others. GNU Health has been adopted by many hospitals, governments and multilateral organizations around the globe.
The GNU Health project has been declared a Digital Public Good by the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA)
We are very proud to announce that the GNU Health project has been declared a Digital Public Good by the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA). GNU Solidario received the announcement this Sunday, April 3rd 2022.
The Digital Public Goods Alliance is a multi-stakeholder initiative endorsed by the United Nations Secretary-General, working to accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in low-and middle-income countries by facilitating the discovery, development, use of, and investment in digital public goods.
Digital Public Good Alliance board members (2022)
Current board members of the DPGA include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Government of Sierra Leone, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), iSPIRT, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) , and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The goal of the DPGA and its registry is to promote digital public goods in order to create a more equitable world. Being recognized as a DPG increases the visibility, support for, and prominence of open projects that have the potential to tackle global challenges.
After its nomination to become a Digital Public Good project, GNU Health had to pass the requirements of the DPGA standards. As the DPGA states :
GNU Health is now in the Digital Public Goods Alliance registry
The Digital Public Goods Standard is a set of specifications and guidelines designed to maximise consensus about whether a digital solution conforms to the definition of a digital public good: open-source software, open data, open AI models, open standards, and open content that adhere to privacy and other applicable best practices, do no harm by design and are of high relevance for attainment of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This definition stems from the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation.
Digital Public Good Standards
At GNU Solidario and GNU Health we are humbled and very happy with this recognition, and accept it with profound commitment, responsibility and determination. It makes us work even harder to keep on fighting for the advancement of Social Medicine, and to give voice to the voiceless around the world.
About GNU Health
GNU Health is a Libre, community driven project from GNU Solidario, a non-profit humanitarian organization focused on Social Medicine. Our project has been adopted by public and private health institutions and laboratories, multilateral organizations and national public health systems around the world.
The GNU Health project provides the tools for individuals, health professionals, institutions and governments to proactively assess and improve the underlying determinants of health, from the socioeconomic agents to the molecular basis of disease. From primary health care to precision medicine.
The following are the main components that make up the GNU Health ecosystem:
Social Medicine and Public Health
Hospital Management (HMIS)
Laboratory Management (Occhiolino)
Personal Health Record (MyGNUHealth)
Bioinformatics and Medical Genetics
Thalamus and Federated health networks
GNU Health embedded on Single Board devices
GNU Health is a Free/Libre, community-driven project from GNU Solidario, that counts with a large and friendly international community. GNU Solidario celebrates GNU Health Con and the International Workshop on e-Health in Emerging Economies (IWEEE) every year, that gathers the GNU Health and social medicine advocates from around the world.
GNU Health is a GNU (www.gnu.org) official package, awarded with the Free Software Foundantion award of Social benefit, among others. GNU Health has been adopted by many hospitals, governments and multilateral organizations around the globe.
GHCon 2021, the GNU Health annual conference focused on Social Medicine and Libre Health Informatics will be celebrated Dec 10-11th.
Social Medicine, Libre Software and health informatics enthusiasts have a date this Friday and Saturday at GHCon 2021!
The 2-day annual conference organized by GNU Solidario, will be hosting delegates from organizations around the world. We will have over 20 speakers from Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Spain, Haiti, Germany, Bangladesh, England and France, among others.
The Free Software community, will be represented by delegates from openSUSE, the Qt project, FOSSHOST, Free Software Foundation Europe, Orthanc PACS server and GNU Health.
This year we will introduce a new section, “GNU Health in original version”, which will have talks in French, Haitian creole and Spanish. This allows non-English speaking audience to know more about the GNU Health community in their region, and in their language.
Thanks to our friends from Olimex, we will be celebrating a draw among those registered at GHCon, for a fantastic, 100% libre hardware LIME2, where you can run the GNU Health HMIS / LIS or MyGNUHealth, the GNU health Personal Health Record application.
GNU Health embedded – LIME2 Edition will be raffled at GHCon 2021
On Friday, we will have talks from different academic institutions and organizations focused on Social Medicine and applied Libre technologies.
Saturday will be dedicated integrally to the GNU Health community around the globe, current implementations, the upcoming GNU Health HMIS 4.0 , the GNU Health Federation, MyGNUhealth, etcetera. There will be a round table open for all participants.
On Saturday evening we will be celebrate the GNU Health Social Medicine Awards ceremony. The winners of this edition for outstanding individual, best organization and GNU Health implementation will be announce at 19:30 UTC.
The GNU Health Social Medicine Awards 2021 ceremony
Don’t forget to register! GHCon is free, but you need to be registered!
Thank you to our sponsors: Cabildo de Gran Canaria (consejería de Solidaridad Internacional), openSUSE, Olimex and Thymbra Healthcare. GNUHealthCon would not be possible without their support!
Our sponsors: Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Thymbra, openSUSE and Olimex
