[Wikimediaindia-l] Fwd: [Wmfcc-l] [press] Google 'Health Speaks' for online medical info in Hindi

[Barry Newstead]

FYI

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[Wmfcc-l] [press] Google 'Health Speaks' for online medical 
info in Hindi
Date: 	Wed, 8 Sep 2010 15:01:51 -0700
From: 	Jacquelynne Ocana <jacquiocana at gmail.com>
Reply-To: 	Communications Committee <wmfcc-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
To: 	Communications Committee <wmfcc-l at lists.wikimedia.org>



Google 'Health Speaks' for online medical info in Hindi
Press Trust of India
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Google-Health-Speaks-for-online-medical-info-in-Hindi/Article1-597041.aspx?sms_ss=email

Internet search giant Google is encouraging volunteers to translate 
health-related articles in Hindi
under its initiative to boost the amount of online medical information 
in local languages. Google.org
has introduced pilots for its initiative 'Health Speaks' that aims to 
increase the online health information
in Hindi, Arabic and Swahili.

The search giant said it has chosen hundreds of health articles, written 
in English, from Wikipedia
for their translation. Volunteers who are bilingual in English and 
anyone of the vernaculars are being
encouraged to translate the literature with assistance from the Google 
Translator Toolkit. Translators
are also supposed to review the articles and make it locally relevant 
before publishing it on the
corresponding local language Wikipedia site.

Pilot programmes are supported with a donation incentive, awarding local 
charities with funds based
on the number of words volunteers translate, Google said in a statement. 
For the first 60 days, Google
will donate 3 US cents (about 45 paise) to the Public Health Foundation 
of India, New Delhi, for each
English word translated in Hindi. The maximum donation would $ 50,000. 
The Children's Cancer Hospital
Egypt 57357 and the African Medical and Research Foundation would get 
the same amount for the pilots
in Arabic and Swahili, respectively.

"Language should not be the barrier that denies millions of people 
worldwide the opportunity to improve
their health with valuable health information," Jennifer Haroon, Manager 
of Health Initiatives at Google.org, said.

In most parts of the world, quality information that would help people 
to improve their health is not available
online in local languages. In 2004, Lancet - a medical journal - 
described the lack of access to health information
as a "major barrier to knowledge-based healthcare in developing 
countries." The authors then noted "among
currently available technologies, only the Internet has the potential to 
deliver universal access to up-to-date
healthcare information."

Currently, professional translation of high quality health content is 
expensive and there are difficulties in finding
translators for some non-western languages.


-- 
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate." 
--Roland

-- 
Barry Newstead
Chief Global Development Officer
Wikimedia Foundation
Tel: +1-415-839-6885 x. 634
Skype: barry.wikimedia
Twitter: @bazanews


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