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Monday, April 27, 2015

Gujarat Government is all set to revive its telemedicine project, which had failed to take off earlier due to technological hurdles, as a PPP model by roping in private hospitals and experts from Canada.

The project aims at providing quality healthcare services to those living in rural and remote areas of the state.

Health Minister Nitin Patel said health experts from Ontario province in Canada have promised to provide the necessary technical support needed to implement the project.

“Indian-origin Minister of Ontario Dipika Damerla, who was here during Vibrant Summit, discussed this issue in detail with us. She told us that Ontario has successfully implemented this project in her province. Without taking any fees, they are now ready to help us in implementing the telemedicine project in Gujarat,” Patel told PTI.

Telemedicine is system where medical information of patients is transferred through interactive audio-visual media via internet.

Through the telemedicine network, city-based specialist doctors will be able to guide their juniors working in state-run health centres, located in remote areas, on the line of treatment for their patients, said Patel.

“We want to cover Primary Health Centres (PHCs) as well as Community Health Centres (CHCs), based in rural and remote areas, where specialist doctors are not available.