Interior forest villages, which have no road or telephone network till now, are now set to get telemedicine services through fiber grid initiated by the State government.
Titled “Giri Health Centres,” about 40 health sub-centres in the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) areas will be connected with the help of fiber grid in the first phase. The mission was launched on June 21 by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu through video conference with ITDA Project Officer Nishant Kumar and MLA V. Rajaeswari, from Visakhapatnam.
Under this initiative, four health sub-centres — Yendavalli in Gangavaram mandal, Chikilikinta, Vatangi and Ammirekula in Rajavommangi mandal — were selected. Another six sub-centres — Chaparai, Bodaluru, Akumamidithota, Banda, Kanivada and Jajivalasaunder — will be connected in the second phase.
According to Mr. Nishant Kumar, doctors working in super speciality hospitals will extend services through teleconference or video conference once in two days. “In case of emergency, the doctors, who are available round the clock, will guide the nurse or the ANM to give primary support to the patient in a serious condition and ask them to rush the patient to the nearest PHC or area hospital.”
Consultation hubs
The ANMs will have to bring patients from the village to the sub-centre and enrol his/her Aadhaar and other details through tab and upload the same to through the medical consultation hub to the doctors who will be on the job that day.
The two consultation hubs were established in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.
The sub-centres will also have automatic drug vending machines, through which the doctors will guide the ANM or the nurse to give the medicine to the patient, after interacting with the patient through video conference.
Dhanush Infotech Private Limited has established these sub-centres after a conducting study for six months in Agency villages.
“It is only an experiment and we are hopeful of extending the facility to all interior villages,” said the Project Officer.