The popularization of the Internet, due in larger part to the advent of multifunctional cell phones, poses new challenges for health professionals, patients, and caregivers as well as creates new possibilities for all of us. This comprehensive volume analyzes how this social phenomenon is transforming long-established healthcare practices and perceptions in a country with one of the highest numbers of Internet users: Brazil. After an opening text that analyzes the Internet and E-Health Care as a field of study, the book comprises six parts. The first part introduces the emergence and development of the internet in Brazil, its pioneering experience in internet governance, digital inclusion, and online citizen participation. The second part is dedicated to internet health audiences by analyzing the cases of patients, the young, and the elderly seeking and sharing health information online, especially in virtual communities. The third part is dedicated to the challenges that the expansion of the internet in healthcare poses to all of us, such as the evaluation of the quality of health information available online and the prevention of the risks involved with online sales, cyberbullying, and consumption of prescription medicines. The fourth presents some innovative e-learning experiences carried out with different groups in Brazil, while the fifth part analyses some practical applications involving the Internet and health, including studies on M-Health, the Internet of things, serious games and the use of new information and communication technologies in health promotion. The last chapter analyses the future of healthcare in the Internet Age. The authors establish a critical and creative debate with international scholarship on the subject. This book is written in a direct and comprehensible way for professionals, researchers, students of communication and health, as well as for stakeholders and others interested in better understanding the trends and the different challenges related to the social phenomenon of the internet in health.

Demi Getschko, Member of the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) and Chairman Executive Committee of the Brazilian Network Information Center (NIC.br). "This is the right book at the right time, when Internet governance is in the headlines. the political visions behind Brazil's governance system are very advanced and embody the rich diversity of our academic, political, technical, entrepreneurial, and civil society stakeholders. That diversity has allowed the Internet to flourish in our country. Peter Knight captures all these visions in a book that the reader will find both provocative and pleasurable to read." Michael Stanton, Director of Research and Development, National Education and Research Network (RNP). "This book provides a very informative description of how Brazilian governments and allied institutions have together built, and continue to extend, the communications infrastructure required for a modern knowledge-based society. the job is by no means complete, but the book shows examples of how future extensions can continue to be built to improve the result. Unsurprisingly, a common thread throughout the book is the emphasis on providing ubiquitous fiber optical infrastructure so that future expansion can reuse existing communications cables." Steve Goldstein, Former National Science Foundation Program Officer for International Internet Connections and former Member of the Board of ICANN. "In this short book, Dr. Knight, a former World Bank economist and manager now living in Brazil, moves from a meticulously detailed rendition of the development of networking in Brazil through to the adoption of Internet technology by the academic community. Then, he follows the path to commercialization and present day status and the very latest global policy implications for Internet governance (e.g., NET Mundial). A gift to Internet historians and policy wonks as well!" Nagy Hanna, Author, Advisor, Academic. Former senior advisor on e-transformation and chief strategist at the World Bank. "The Internet is central to realizing any eTransformation strategy. Harnessing this 21st century infrastructure is increasingly critical for the economic health and competitiveness of nations. Peter is a keen observer of the Internet's evolution, use, and governance in Brazil. This book is a timely and readable analysis that should help both external observers and Brazilians understand this important country's approach to the Internet." Vanda Scartezini, Former National Secretary for Information Technology Policy and twice former member of ICANN Board of Directors. "Extremely relevant for rescuing the memory of Internet's evolution in Brazil. the book provides an excellent opportunity for the youth of today and tomorrow understand the path that led to them this fantastic opportunity for personal and social development that is the Internet."

The Internet has been a reality in Brazil for more than 20 years. Its growth has been encouraged by the government, by large telecom companies, and by small and medium Internet service providers, as well as by rapidly increasing demand. The achievements to date are clear, but almost half the population is still not participating in the digital world. Furthermore, the cost of broadband is still high and its quality should be improved so that it will be possible to take advantage of all the benefits it can bring, whether related to health, education, or even the exercise of political rights. It is necessary, therefore that the Brazilian Internet be fast, reliable, and accessible. This book brings together 23 specialists in various areas related to broadband, specialists who wanted to discuss Brazil’s public policies and regulations as well as the progress and challenges related to expanding access to broadband Internet service. The 16 chapters also address the evolution of the country’s broadband infrastructure, including experiences of entrepreneurship and public-private partnerships. This debate is fundamental for Brazil’s technological, economic and social progress.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th Annual Smart City 360° Summit, held in Braga, Portugal, in December 2019. The volume combines selected papers of four conferences, namely IoT in Urban Space, Urb-IoT 2019, Smart Governance for Sustainable Smart Cities, SmartGov 2019, Sensor Systems and Software, S-Cube 2019, and Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment, Intetain 2019. The 5 keynote and 32 conference papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 113 submissions and present results of multidisciplinary scientific and industry collaboration to solve complex societal, technological and economic problems Smart Cities. As such, the main goals are to promote quality of life, work conditions, mobility and sustainability.

This third global survey of the WHO Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe) investigated how eHealth can support universal health coverage(UHC) in Member States. A total of 125 countries participated in the survey ? a clear reflection of the growing interest in this area. The report considers eHealth foundations built through policy development funding approaches and capacity building in eHealth through the training of students and professionals. It then observes specific eHealth applications such as mHealth telehealth electronic health records systems and eLearning and how these contribute to the goals of UHC. Of interest is the extent to which legal frameworks protect patient privacy in EHRs as health care systems move towards to delivering safer more efficient and more accessible health care. Finally the rapidly emerging areas of social media for health care as well as big data for research and planning are reported.

Abstract: Health systems are not just about improving health: good ones also ensure that people are protected from the financial consequences of receiving medical care. Anecdotal evidence suggests health systems often perform badly in this respect, apparently with devastating consequences for households, especially poor ones and near-poor ones. Two principal methods have been used to measure financial protection in health. Both relate a household's out-of-pocket spending to a threshold defined in terms of living standards in the absence of the spending: the first defines spending as catastrophic if it exceeds a certain percentage of the living standards measure; the second defines spending as impoverishing if it makes the difference between a household being above and below the poverty line. The paper provides an overview of the methods and issues arising in each case, and presents empirical work in the area of financial protection in health, including the impacts of government policy. The paper also reviews a recent critique of the methods used to measure financial protection.

The eHealth series is primarily meant for government ministries of health, information technology, and telecommunications, as well as others working in eHealth -- academics, researchers, eHealth professionals, nongovernmental organizations, and donors. The telemedicine module of the 2009 survey examined the current level of development of four fields of telemedicine: teleradiology, teledermatogy, telepathology, and telepsychology, as well as four mechanisms that facilitate the promotion and development of telemedicine solutions in the short- and long-term: the use of a national agency, national policy or strategy, scientific development, and evaluation. Telemedicine: Opportunities and Developments in Member States discusses the results of the telemedicine module, which was completed by 114 countries (59% of Member States).