Karnataka logs 6 lakh free eSanjeevani health consultations

BENGALURU : Since its launch in December 2019 in Karnataka, eSanjeevani, the flagship telemedicine consultation project of the Government of India, has completed six lakh free online consultations, as of March 15. Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Mohali, the app, available on Google Play Store, was launched to provide free OPD consultations to people even in remote areas, on a hub-and-spoke model, without them having to incur any out-of-pocket expenditure.

The person can either login to the app on their own at home or visit a PHC where the doctors can login to consult specialists in district hospitals or super-speciality hospitals in Bengaluru for expert advice. “There are 38 hub centres, including super-speciality hospitals like Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases and more, as well as 2,500 spoke centres, including primary health centres and health and wellness centres,” said Dr Vasanth Kumar, Assistant Deputy Director, e-health, Health and Family Welfare Department.

Specialists in Cardiology, ENT, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Neurology, Paediatrics and other specialisations are available for telemedicine consultation and they can upload prescriptions as well. The patient, at their end, can also scan and upload documents like ECG reports, apart from manually entering their symptoms and medical history.

“If a daily-wage labourer is ill, he will lose the day’s wages if he takes the day off to go to the nearby PHC. If he goes to the PHC and the doctor or nurse is not available, they will have to spend on ticket fare to go to the district hospital. With eSanjeevani, he/she can avoid these issues and get medical consultation at home,” Dr Kumar added.

At least 30% of the sub-centres in the state are covered under this programme and 3,000 more will be added by this month. In the 2020-2021 budget, Rs 19 crore was allocated for developing telemedicine at PHCs and wellness centres. Owing to Covid, this was kept on hold but officials are now preparing the file, to send it for approval. The funds will be used to purchase Information and Computer Technology (ICT) equipment such as computers, web cams, headphones, etc., and also recruit human resources.