Other States - Rajasthan   

Rajasthan village to get telemedicine facility

Special Correspondent

Expert medical services from Gangaram Hospital to be provided through INSAT

JAIPUR: Kaithoon in Kota district of Rajasthan will be the first village in the desert State to get the telemedicine facility through INSAT satellite network, which will provide expert medical services from Sir Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi to poor villagers, doing away with the need for them to travel to metro cities for treatment of serious ailments.

The construction of the first rural telemedicine centre, adjacent to the community health centre, will begin next month in Kaithoon.

The State Government has sanctioned Rs. 17.84 lakhs for its construction.

The Parliamentary Secretary in charge of Information and Public Relations Department, Bhawani Singh Rajawat, inaugurating an operation theatre in Kaithoon over the week-end said the equipment for diagnostic tests of patients in the telemedicine centre would be supplied by Sir Gangaram Hospital. A modern laboratory will be also be established in the community health centre in the village.

The State Government has initiated the telemedicine project in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to enable the villagers to get expert medical advice while sitting at remote locations, saving their expenses and time and avoiding trouble.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had inaugurated the project here on February 14 this year.

Mr. Rajawat said the doctors and technicians at the telemedicine centre would consult the experts at hospital for multi-speciality tele-advisories and treat the patients accordingly. The patients in serious condition may also be referred to the hospital in New Delhi, where they will be admitted at concessional rates.

The telemedicine facility is to be introduced in all the 32 district hospitals, six medical colleges and six mobile units in the State within this year. The State Government had originally proposed their link with the Sawai Man Singh Hospital here, but it may be extended to prestigious hospitals in the national capital, as has been done for Kaithoon.

The State Government proposes to make available tele-advisories in the areas of heart care, neonatology, nephrology, pulmonary medicine, management of high- risk pregnancy, radiology, pathology and tropical medicine in the telemedicine centres. The first link was established on the inauguration day between SRG Hospital in Jhalawar and SMS Hospital in Jaipur.

While the district hospitals will be covered in the project's first phase, the second phase will include all the community and primary health centres. ISRO will provide satellite services to the State Government free of cost during the first five years of the project.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Rajasthan village to get telemedicine facility
Villagers up in arms against sand-mine operators

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu