ISRO chief underscores need for expanding scope of telemedicine

Ahmedabad, May 3 (UNI) Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Dr G Madhavan Nair today underscored the need to increase the reach of healthcare facilities to the rural parts of the country through telemedicine.

He was speaking at the inaugural function of the two-day National Telemedicine Users' Meet-2007, at the ISRO complex here.

Mr Nair said telemedicine has helped realise Vikram Sarabhai's vision of using modern technology for providing health care to the common man. ''We have truly lived up to his expectations,'' Mr Nair said.

He said if a doctor goes to a remote village, he should be able to link up with a hospital so that his patients can get the latest medicare advice. With six lakh villages in India, connectivity is going to be a problem unless mobile telemedicine gains ground, Mr Nair said.

Telemedicine is an important initiative of ISRO taken up during 2001 to use space technology for societal benefits. Under the telemedicine project, hospitals and health centres in remote locations are linked via Insat satellites with super specialty hospitals in major towns and cities of the country.

Mr Nair said the state governments and speciality hospitals should allocate funds for infrastructure, manpower and maintenance requirements to foster telemedicine.

''We have brought down the cost of electronic parts from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 6 lakh. But, still, a lot needs to be done to make telemedicine a reality for the rural poor,'' he said.

So far 221 hospitals -- 181 in remote areas, including eight mobile units, and 40 super speciality hospitals -- have been connected under the ISRO telemedicine programme, Mr Nair informed.

Telemedicine Society of India president Dr S S Badrinath, while speaking on the occasion, said India has a poor, large rural population and these people must have access to modern medicines to bring down mortality rate. Masses also need to be educated about healthcare which, of course, is a subsidiary purpose of the telemedicine.

In a country like India, telemedicine is one of the best suitable means of service delivery as it is based on easy availability and afforabability through space technology, he noted.

UNI