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Medicine by internet

17 April 2009

A farmer in remote Bhutan who suffers a heart attack could be treated by top doctors in Thimphu within minutes, over the internet, it was revealed yesterday.

Indian doctors can also treat Bhutanese patients through a new ‘tele-medicine’ facility.

The Prime Minister and the Indian Ambassador to Bhutan, Sudhir Vyas, launched the new high-tech Rural Tele-Medicine Project and SAARC Tele-Medicine Project. Telemedicine is the transfer of medical information via telephone or the Internet for the purpose of consulting, and sometimes remote medical procedures or examinations.

Through the SAARC telemedicine network, Thimphu Hospital is now linked to two renowned hospitals in India – Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science (SGPGIMS) in Lucknow and Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh. The new network p1will strengthen the technical capacity of health workers, reduce patient referrals and provide medical education to health workers in Bhutan.

The telemedicine project was launched as part of the 20th Annual Health Conference, with the theme, “New era in health and the challenges ahead, 2008-2018”.

In his opening address, Lyonchen Jigme Y. Thinley thanked the medical professionals and health workers for their immense contribution and praised their achievements and reminded them that there was much to do.

“We have reached a stage in time when we now need to reflect on what we have achieved, where we have failed, our strength and our weaknesses and plan for the future knowing what lies ahead, what needs to be done and remind ourselves that the country has changed.”

The Bhutan Society UK and the Bhutan foundation of the US presented to the Health Minister 300 copies of the book, Where there is no Doctor. This book is said to be fundamental in remote health units and will be distributed where there is a lack of highly qualified doctors.

During the launch, the Prime Minister and the Indian Ambassador spoke with doctors in India via video conferencing, both ends expressing their gratitude, aspirations and expectations from this telemedicine project.

“The Rural Telemedicine Project is piloted in 15 other sites including Tsirang and Gelephu which will have completed network connection by the end of this month,” said one health official.

However, according to Dr Tashi Wangdi, a medical specialist at Thimphu Hospital, just having the hardware in place isn’t enough. “It is equally important to educate and train both the parties concerned in the art of clinical communication,” he said, adding that this facility will benefit everyone, particularly emergency patients, but it is very important to have trained health workers who can get the basic and correct information across, so the person at the receiving end can come to an accurate, provisional diagnosis.”

The telemedicine project was first envisioned in 1997 by His Majesty the fourth Druk Gyalpo. It has taken more than 10 years for the dream to be realised. The digital X-Ray was also inaugurated in the new hospital complex on the same day. The health conference is being held at the Royal Institute of Health and Sciences hall in Thimphu and will end on April 19.

By Metho Dema

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Comments

One Response to “Medicine by internet”

  1. tenzin norbu on April 17th, 2009 5:05 pm

    it is a good idea….hope all the health units are connected with this technology. but it is foolish to connect only in thimphu and let the remoute remain same

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