Using Machine Translation for fast, inexpensive, and accurate health information assimilation and dissemination

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has developed its own proprietary Machine Translation System (PAHO MTS), which has been used daily since 1980. The software translates between English, Spanish, and Portuguese and each dictionary contains over 110,000 entries, with specialization in health terminology.  The translation is produced by a source language parser, a transfer component, and a target language generator.
The software includes thousands of medical terms in its main dictionaries and hundreds more in its specialized microglossaries: epidemiology, radiation, medical research, patient education, environmental health, pharmaceuticals.  Other non-health related glossaries include: finance, law, equipment, agriculture, computer science, United Nations, and European variety.
PAHO MTS allows users to gather health information in the desired target language by providing a fast version that is easily understandable, fairly accurate, and preserves all formatting. This version can be used for gisting without the need for postediting.
When the translation is to be disseminated, the “raw” translation generated by PAHO MTS needs to be edited by a professional in order to get a final copy.  The final translation is obtained at a fraction of the cost and time needed by human translation, and ensures terminological consistency.
The software is installed at PAHO Headquarters in Washington, DC, and at over 100 external sites. PAHO MTS may be licensed to non-profit, intergovernmental and governmental institutions.
The presentation will include a live demonstration of the software on real texts.