adminBlessing Rwizi
NYANGA District Medical Officer, Dr Admire Jokwiro, last week toured Ehealth infrastructures and Ehealth activities in India for the enhancement of medical facilities in Nyanga and Manicaland at large.
The recent visit to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research as well as the Centre for Advanced Computer Training in India followed the introduction of the telemedicine facility, which is a component of EHealth in Nyanga District early this year.
The system enables villagers to access professional medical services from nearby clinics through video conferencing despite the geographical and economic barriers, thereby bringing convenience.
Telemedicine commenced in India 15 years ago and has progressively evolved to where they are at the moment.
Dr Jokwiro said: “Telemedicine is a very big industry in India. It is available in both public and private practices. It is actually now part of the way they deliver healthcare services and most health institutions in India have a telemedicine unit within the hospitals.”
He said the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research had up to 60 links of health facilities within India and three other countries in Asia.
“They develop their own software, hardware and mobile healthcare applications. I was able to see these applications in daily use, real time and how they bring convenience and access to the generality of the population.
“India also has Ehealth training schools where health workers for example nurse or hospital administrators are trained on these systems. Peripheral equipment such as examination cameras, Tele-ECG and digital stethoscope among others are also locally manufactured in India and this makes it easier for them to deploy these systems.
In that case, Indian institutions said they are willing to partner with Zimbabwe to improve our own medical systems as they now have better experience of these facilities,” he said.
Online Reporter