Health Minister Mandaviya reviews tele-consultation services at e-Sanjeevani hub at CGHS HQ

New Delhi, Jan 14: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited the e-Sanjeevani hub at CGHS headquarters in Delhi and reviewed the tele-consultation services being provided there. He interacted with the doctors providing tele-consultations and personally viewed some sessions.

The minister urged people to make more use of these digital platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic which will enable beneficiaries to avail quality healthcare services without venturing out. Appreciating the healthcare services being provided through the digital platform of tele-consultation, Mandaviya noted that "e-Sanjeevani is a revolution in the health sector in the country.

It is providing affordable and accessible healthcare as envisioned by the prime minister". He reiterated that in Thursday's review meeting with chief ministers, the prime minister had highlighted that tele-medicine facilities will help a great deal in providing healthcare services to the needy. Mandaviya added that "people in many states have been quick to recognise the benefits of e-Sanjeevani and this has led to an encouraging trend of widespread rapid adoption of this digital modality of seeking health services.

Patients consult with doctors and specialists on a daily basis using this innovative digital medium". He also said, "The use of this platform is addressing the shortage of doctors and specialists at ground level while reducing the burden on secondary and tertiary-level hospitals." It is also plugging the digital health divide that exists in urban and rural India, he added.

The health minister recommended the doctors to seek consultation with subject experts and specialists through the hub-spoke model. e-Sanjeevani, the national telemedicine service of Government of India, is a technological intervention conceptualised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and designed, implemented and operationalised by C-DAC which leverages Information Technology to enable remote doctor consultations. e-Sanjeevani AB-HWC has accounted for over 1.60 crore consultations.

Currently, around 33,297 health and wellness centres acting as 'spokes' are aligned to over 2,991 'hubs' of district hospitals and medical colleges. e-Sanjeevani OPD platform has served over 65 lakh patients in 35 states and UTs, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

Over 1,10,988 doctors and paramedics have been trained and onboarded, so far and 664 online OPDs have been set up on e-Sanjeevani OPD and a total of 2.17 crore tele-consultations have been done till date. Over 1,10,000 patients are served through e-Sanjeevani on a daily basis, establishing itself as a parallel stream of healthcare services delivery. About 53 per cent of the consultations have been taken by women, the ministry said. PTI