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Physicians often turn to handhelds for assistance at the point of care. With that in mind, the American Cancer Society is in the process of developing a new free mobile application to battle the spread of cancer (see Mobile Reference to Help Fight Cancer), while wireless medical content provider Skyscape is teaming up with Satellife to deliver free handhelds to doctors in Africa to improve healthcare.

Due the first quarter of next year, C-Tools for Palm OS and Pocket PC PDAs and smartphones aims to help medical professionals prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer. The American Cancer Society is currently looking for beta testers—normal people, Doctors, Nurses and Medical Students—to test the software. If you would like to participate, send an e-mail to ctoolsbeta@alterion.com.

Donate Old Handhelds
Most Americans who upgrade to a new PDA simply throw their used one away or put it in a drawer not knowing what to do with it. Skyscape and SATELLIFE said they are creating a "Global Supply Line" that will eliminate this waste and put old handheld devices to good use by donating them to physicians in Africa.

Skyscape will equip these handheld devices with mobile medical references For its part, SATELLIFE will distribute the PDAs to doctors in Uganda and other East African countries as part of its existing initiative to fight the spread of AIDS in Africa and improve medical care by providing doctors the most current treatment guidelines and references.

The organization's Executive Director Holly Ladd says, "Outside of a few select hospitals, most doctors in Sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to the latest medical information—which is essential for providing the highest quality of medical care."

For instance, physicians in Uganda frequently travel half a day to treat a patient in rural areas. They cannot bring what few references they own with them, which means if it is not a simple issue,. As a result, patients may not receive the proper treatment for days. With a PDA, physicians can stay at the patient's bedside, check for available drugs to treat the condition, and treat the patient immediately.

Ladd continued, "By providing doctors with the references they need on handheld devices, we can ensure they get out to the clinics and rural areas where they can have the most significant impact."

Anyone wishing to find out how to donate their used PDA should click here.