‘Centre for telemental health services’ to be added to JPMC facilities: Pechuho

KARACHI: The Sindh government is going to establish a Centre for ‘telemental health’ services for patients at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), said Dr. Azra Pechuho, the provincial Minister of Health, on Thursday.

Also, the provincial government is launching a pilot project on mental health in Dadu and Qumbar – the two districts, severely affected, and vulnerable as for as the mental diseases are concerned, she said.

While addressing as chief guest at a seminar titled: ‘Telemedicine for enhancing flood response and improving preparedness of health systems’ at a local hotel, she said that telemedicine usage for mental health is important, and the centre for telemental health in JPMC will help us to get engaged with communities and doctors.

She said the World Bank money is coming in for the program, and the government of Sindh is setting up community centres attached to the government dispensaries in which the people will get telehealth facilities.

He said the government has also come up with a disaster mitigation plan in the light of huge experience from Covid-19, and the recent unprecedented floods.

She said accessibility was huge impediment in floods, as bridges were down and roads flooded. However, “now we have developed disaster mitigation plan under which we are going to establish hospitals, mobile units, and telehealth and Telemedicine services.”

The seminar was organized by Tech4life Enterprises.

Dr. Azra Pechuho appreciated the technologies and ideas shared by the audience and showed her commitment to utilize possible solutions to improve health services for people in Sindh.

Dr. Shariq Khoja, CEO of Tech4Life Enterprises gave a detailed presentation on his organization’s 10-year journey, and informed the participants about several ground-breaking innovations that are revolutionizing healthcare locally and globally.

He revealed a number of Telemedicine devices which can transform provision of health services in disaster hit areas and improve efficiency of health care organizations and providers.

These included eSteth Digital Stethoscopes, Digital cameras, Advanced Sojro Telemedicine kits for Primary care, Ambulances and Disasters, and Telemedicine drones to reach people in all situations.

Earlier, a panel discussion was also held, in which Zainab Hassan from Sindh Healthcare Commission, Dr Ahsanullah Khan from Hands, Dr Haroon Khan from e-health, Shakeel Akhtar from Indus Hospital, and Dr Mairaj Shah from AKU participated as experts, responded queries and stressed upon the need of adopting telemedicine technology in the country.

They said telemedicine technology can be used to address the gap in access to health care by providing online consultations and ensuring distribution of medications and supplies to people in need. Telemedicine can ensure that the doctors can reach many locations and communities without leaving their offices physically.

They can see large number of patients online and triage them for hospitalization and other services. Telemedicine devices can ensure proper patient examination and monitoring of vital signs before diagnosis and treatment is offered.

The Tech4Life Enterprises team launched World’s First specialized Telemedicine drones at the seminar.

Telemedicine drones have been designed to reach long distances which cannot be accessed by health providers using other means of transport. The drones are equipped with high resolution cameras and network capacity for Telemedicine consultations, along with the devices to examine the patients in far-flung areas. Drones can travel long distances and reach specific locations using GPS technology.

The drones are branded as ‘Sojro’, which means ‘Light’ in Sindhi language.

Sojro Telemedicine drones launched at the seminar were the first of their kind, according to the event organizers. Many different models of Telemedicine drones will be launched in near future for different niche markets. These drones will be used by health and humanitarian organizations all over the world, including disaster and military organizations, emergency care organizations and ambulances, hospitals, and primary healthcare setups in far reaching areas.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022