MEAHI development phases have been designed based on a philosophy : “ You can not walk before you can stand , and you can not run before you can walk ! “ , therefore , there are three MEAHI development phases as the followings :



 

MEAHI Preparation Phase - Birth & Growing up (2002-2009):



The Iranian Medical Informatics Association ( IrMIA ) was founded in 2002 , then became the first IMIA national society member from the Middle East region in 2003 . Among the objectives for setting up the IrMIA , there was a strong commitment  to found the MEAHI as well , then MEAHI was founded in 2002. The MEAHI founder conducted two surveys in 2001 and 2006 in regard to the Health Informatics Status in the Middle East region , then as a result the MEAHI strategic plan was initiated in 2005 based on “ Better Health through Better Information : The Agenda for  the Middle East  2012 and  beyond “ strategy.

 

The MEAHI founder submitted the MEAHI proposal to the IMIA board in 2003 , then presented the MEAHI proposal to the IMIA board in September 2004 in San Francisco , USA , which recognized by the IMIA board. On behalf of the IMIA board , Prof.Hiroshi Takeda offered mentoring to MEAHI till today. In order to raising awareness , and to buildup relationship with respected stakeholders in the governments , academia ,industry , WHO-EMRO , and NGOs in the region , eight business meetings were held during 2005-2008 in UAE , KSA , Lebanon , Iran , Australia and Sweden.

After tremendous efforts for a few years , the IMIA board and General Assembly finally approved the MEAHI as a new IMIA regional chapter in 2009 in Hiroshima , Japan in order to offer the top-down support for MEAHI initiatives.

 

MEAHI Transition Phase- Maturity  (2010-2012) :



This phase was mostly focused on bottom-up approach in the region to complete the MEAHI Business cycle .The third MEAHI conference held in Beirut in March 2010. Arab Spring affected the MEAHI activities during 2011.There were a few attempts to activate the nine working groups of MEAHI in accordance to MAP CMM (MEAHI Action Plan Conceptual Matrix Model) , which mostly focused on MEAHI-NI ( Nursing Informatics ) at the end during 2012. The IMIA missions in this part of the world have been expedited by MEAHI, and the MEAHI progress reports have been presented to IMIA board two times a year during this phase. The IMIA board meeting for the first time in the IMIA history, planned to be held in April 2013 in Dubai , UAE in conjunction with the 4th MEAHI Conference on healthcare informatics .

 

 

​MEAHI Operation Phase (2013- ) Social Encounter (2013 onwards  )  

After a decade of consistent and dedicated hard work, it seemed the MEAHI maturity phase was being completed! Then it is the time for MEAHI social encounter, therefore, the MEAHI General Assembly meeting held in 23 April 2013 in conjunction with the 4th MEAHI 2013 conference at Crown Plaza Deira, Dubai, UAE to strengthen the MEAHI Governance Hierarchy and to expedite the MEAHI missions’ deployment. During this phase, MEAHI continues to strengthen the relationship with stakeholders in the region, to foster its unique platform for networking and knowledge exchange in the field of biomedical & health informatics, and to materialize its mission in accordance with its strategic plan.



 

Dr Ramin Moghaddam

MEAHI Founding President &
MEAHI Supreme Council Chair

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30 April 2013