UP govt planning to strengthen telemedicine services

To strengthen telemedicine services in the state, the Uttar Pradesh government is planning to introduce a scheme under which people, especially those living in far-flung area, can seek medical consultations by simply dialing a number

Under the scheme, the state is being divided into five clusters and control rooms will be established in five prominent cities, Health Minister Sidhartha Nath Singh said here.

A team of doctors will be posted round-the-clock at these control rooms, which will also have a helpline number, he said.

The minister said the efforts of the state government is to ensure that everyone gets medical help near his house and no person is forced to make repeated rounds of hospitals.

Explaining the process, he said if a person residing in a village is suffering from fever, the patient can seek medical help from a doctor by dialing the toll-free number of the control room following which medicines will be prescribed.

"If the patient does not recover from the illness, they can inform the doctor, who can ask him or her to get a blood test done.

"The patient will not have to go to any pathology centre. A staff from the nearest health centre will come and collect the blood sample at no cost," Singh said.

The patient will be given a number by the control room, which will be sent to the beneficiary through SMS, he said.

"If there are no signs of serious ailments, then the doctor will advise the patient to take free medicine from the nearest health centre.

"In case of serious illness, the person will get expert medical advice from specialists of KGMU and SGPGI at their village health centre or respective district hospital," Singh said, adding that the scheme will be run on a public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

The minister said that once the scheme becomes operational, the pressure on hospitals in cities will reduce.