The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : India offers medical expertise to Africa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 07, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

India offers medical expertise to Africa

Y. Mallikarjun

Medical mission: Consultant cardiologist of CARE Hospital Rajiv V.Menon, (left) advising online treatment to another doctor at Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethoipia, from Hyderabad on Friday.

HYDERABAD: ‘We had difficulty in the management of this young man, what are the modalities you recommend’ was the question posed to a cardiologist here by a doctor from a hospital in Addis Ababa as External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee intently watched the telemedicine consultation after inaugurating a pilot project of the Pan-African e-Network on Friday.

The Rs.542-crore e-Network seeks to connect all 53 African nations by a satellite and fibre-optic link to share India’s expertise in the fields of healthcare and education. The External Affairs Ministry (nodal ministry) started setting up a network to provide tele-education and telemedicine services, apart from VVIP connectivity amongst the heads of States. Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) is the implementing agency.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the project, which was mooted by President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

As a forerunner to the network, a pilot project was initiated in November last, establishing telemedicine connectivity between CARE Hospital here and Black Lion hospital, Addis Ababa, and Nekempte Hospital in Ethiopia. As the Ethiopian doctor explained the case of the 32-year-old man, who suffered a heart failure, Rajiv V. Menon, a consultant cardiologist, advised him to continue giving drugs, which increase heart’s contraction and also a blood-thinner to combat clots.

Talking to The Hindu later, TCIL Director (technical) P. Ganesh said the entire Pan-African e-Network project providing tele-medicine link between hospitals in 53 African nations and 12 super-speciality hospitals in the country woul d be completed by next year-end.

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