KOCHI: Telemedicine has opened up the possibility of reaching out to rural and backward areas in the country in a most cost-effective manner, said Panabaka Lakshmi, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, here on Tuesday.

Addressing an expert meeting on telemedicine, a follow-up to a pilot project on `Telemedicine in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan' involving the United Nations, India and the U.S., the Minister called upon the experts to use the technology effectively. The Government actively supports all telemedicine projects, she said. The new technological innovations would empower people to exercise their right to good health. Telemedicine kiosks in the suburban and rural areas would help in realising the cause, she said.

Primary health centres in the country were facing a crisis because of lack of doctors and qualified support staff. Telemedicine could resolve the problem, she added.

Azizullah Akhgar, Director General of Provincial Public Health, Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan, said as a pilot project, two hospitals in Kabul were identified for setting up telemedicine facilities for which personnel had been trained by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

B.N. Suresh, Director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, in his address, said telemedicine could be used to improve deficiency in the health sector. About 70 per cent of the country's population lived in rural areas where only two per cent qualified doctors were available.

Jonathan Linkous, Executive Director, American Telemedicine Association; Alice Lee, Chief of UN Programme on Space Applications, and Prem Nair, Medical Director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, also spoke on the occasion.

Swami Poornamritanandadapuri, International General Secretary of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math, gave the benedictory address.

The three-day meeting would discuss follow-up possibilities that could benefit India and the neighbouring countries for sustainable development of telemedicine in the long run.

Besides experts from India, the UN and the U.S., delegates from the neighbouring countries like Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mauritius are participating.

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