Claimed to be the first of its kind in Asia, the Apollo Tele-networking Foundation (ATNF) of the Apollo group and the Anna University has jointly launched a certificate course on tele-health technology.

The four-week duration course, to be held at the Anna University campus, is designed to address the technical, medical and the business aspects of the healthcare delivery system. While faculty from Anna University will take care of the technical aspects, the faculty from Apollo will handle medical and business aspects.

The programme will be held for three batches, each consisting of 30 students. The course fee is Rs.10, 000 for private candidates,Rs.20, 000 for industry/institution sponsored candidates and $ 750 for overseas candidates. The course includes four-day hands on training at the Apollo Hospitals, Chennai and a one-day visit to a rural tele-health centre.

Inaugurating the course, Dr.Prathap C Reddy, Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals said the course has potential to generate 40 million additional jobs in the country, and earn $ 300 billion revenue over a period of time. Currently Apollo has 28 telemedicine centres in India and abroad, and plans to open another 50 centres in near future. The tele-health segment is growing at a rapid pace, and the industry demand for qualified professionals to support this segment would grow in future. Apollo selected Anna University as the partner for its excellent human resources and infrastructure, said Dr.Reddy.

According to Dr. E.Balaguruswamy, Vice Chancellor of Anna University, the objective of the course was to provide health and industry sectors with people capable of understanding the design, selection, procurement, installation, management, maintenance and evaluation of tele-health systems in accordance to the present and future needs. The university has a network of nearly 250 engineering colleges in the state, most in remote areas, helping the rural population to access the benefits of tele-health facilities, said the Vice Chancellor.