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Now doctors at the click of a mouse

BHUBANESWAR: Reaching out to a doctor will soon become an easy task for those residing or visiting the capital city. The State government is all set to come out with a detailed database on doctors and health facilities presently available in Bhubaneswar.

The information about doctors would be just a click away. Your cursor on the website www.orissahealth.org will take you to the nearest health institution giving information about doctors and their contact details and facilities available.

Photographs of the health centres along with their distance from major landmarks of the city would also pop out. It would help health concerned people make up their mind if they want to visit the centre.

The State National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is likely to upload the innovative format “where my doctor is (WMDI” for the Bhubaneswar city on its website within a week.

This effort is said to be the first of its kind in the country by which one can access comprehensive information about health services available in a particular city.

“Initially we made a detailed survey of health services available in eight class-1 urban centres with a population above 1 lakh with an aim to use the information for creating assured and credible primary health services for urban poor.

But later we thought let the information go to the public domain and people access it to their advantage,” the NRHM Director Sushil Kumar Lohani told The Hindu here on Monday.

The NRHM has developed urban health Geographic Information System (GIS) for Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur, Rourkela, Puri, Sambalpur, Balasore and Baripada using advanced techniques of global positioning system and remote sensing.

“Initially the WMDI will be available on website. We plan to convert it into brochure form for its better use. It would prove to be handy for Asha workers, whose service would soon be extended to urban centres,” Mr. Lohani said.

In the WMDI, information ranging from availability of specialists to medical investigation facilities to ambulance was tabled in systematic and lucid manner, Mithun Karmakar, GIS consultant for the NRHM, said.

She said the WMDI for rest seven cities would be uploaded at a later stage. There would be list of about 573 major and minor health institutions existing in Bhubaneswar and categorisation such as allopathic, homoeopathy or ayurvedic would also be available, Ms. Karmakar said.

The survey found there were 402 health institutions available in Berhampur, 415 in Cuttack, 155 in Sambalpur, 191 in Rourkela, 150 in Puri, 314 in Balasore and 177 in Baripada.

It is hoped that urban health GIS of eight cities would help the State government implement programmes in National Urban Health Mission, which has been mooted recently.

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