For those in Health Informatics, the name “Scallop” may not sound strange. Immanuel Antonius, known professionally as Don Vieira, is a successful and independent consultant who has reached horizons beyond expectations. Technoprenuer, 32, has carried out projects that most consultants still consider a dream. While growing up in Namibia, his experience and skills were never limited to the limits. If Namibia is your main home, your workplaces or contracted duty stations have become the secondary residence where you used to spend most of your days.
As far as his academic background is concerned, he holds an Honors ‘degree in Computer Science, Advanced diploma in Monitoring and Evaluation, certifications on Health Information Systems (HIS) and A masters’ degree in Biometrics from the University of Paris – Est créteil in France.
As people dream of partnering with tech giants like Facebook or Google, it achieved the milestone of serving similar giants in healthcare. Some of his notable partnerships are with the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations (UN), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). ), the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), IntraHealth International, Global Fund, Population Service International (PSI), Jay Snow Inc. and the list goes on.
Aside from his background in health informatics, language is one of those factors that contributed to his elevation in height. His understanding of seven languages, including English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, has helped him deal with people of different backgrounds.
With ten (10) years of experience, he has built and supported various national systems such as e-Health, Malaria, TB, PMTCT, Nutrition, VMMC and HIV, just to name a few. It also trained more than 20,000 people, including government officials, managers, nurses, doctors, and technical personnel to bring about significant changes in its methods of raising the public’s quality of life.
Vieira has developed strong professional relationships with various organizations in Kenya, Uganda, Mocambique, South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Germany, India, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and the United States. Most of them used to admire his determination and abilities to do his best in every area.
If you are assigned to a job, there is no force to stop you from transforming a newbie into an expert. Below are three of some of the notable milestones that gave his career a boost:
1. A discrete choice experiment for pharmacists: Worked with Dr. Peter Rockers, assistant professor in the Department of Global Health at the Boston University School of Public Health, to bring about visible changes in health informatics. At the time of the experiment, Dr. Peter Rockers was at Harvard Medical School.
2. Vieira wore the big shoe when he took over as HIS Technical Advisor in place of Jim Sitzer, who became the Director of Public Health for the Umatilla County Health Department, Oregon, USA.
3. During Vieira’s adventure as a JSI technical advisor, he developed a web-based master installation (MFL) for Namibia. It consists of a map that indicates the location of all public health facilities in the country. allocation and distribution of resources. The MFL was built according to WHO guidelines
Due to internet connectivity problems in most rural areas, health extension workers were forced to use paper records to collect patient information. This resulted in poor data quality as the paper would be torn or lost. With the drive to find a suitable solution, he created a mobile application that has the ability to store data without an internet connection.
In recent years, Vieira has earned little accolades and gained international recognition for his consulting expertise. His passion for innovation and techno-entrepreneurship is what has always made him different from others.
For his next project, he promised to create what most government agencies and NGOs have failed to implement: “The Situation Room”, which will bring new changes to the health sector.