The Central government has sanctioned Rs two crore to the Kerala government for implementing the state government's ambitious telemedicine project worth Rs.2.5 crore that will catapult the State's healthcare delivery system into the big league. Kerala would be the second State after West Bengal to have telemedicine network in the Government sector. While the Centre will provide Rs 2 crore, the State Government will chip in Rs 50 lakh besides meeting the recurring expenditure on the project.

The project, envisaging telemedicine connectivity between major medical centres and hospitals in the periphery, was sanctioned last week by the Department of Information Technology, Union Ministry of Telecommunications. Earlier, the National Committee on Telemedicine had examined and approved the proposal from the state government. Kerala state Health Secretary K Ramamurthy is a member of the committee.

Telemedicine uses a hybrid technology incorporating elements of television, telecommunications, computers and multimedia (voice, video and data) to deliver cost effective medical services.

During the first phase, the Indian Space Research Organisation will install state-of-the-art equipment including an antenna for setting up a telemedicine centre at Pampa. The centre, expected to be commissioned by mid November, is being opened for the benefit of Sabarimala pilgrims.

The centre at Pampa will be initially linked with Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital (TMCH), which is being developed as the hub centre for southern districts. It would mainly provide services in cardiology and orthopaedics. Once the Sabarimala season is over, the equipment would be shifted to the Pathanamthitta district hospital.

In the second phase, taluk hospitals at Neyyattinkara and Adoor and the district hospitals at Kollam and Pathanamthitta would be linked with the TMCH. The Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Science and Technology( SCTIMST) and Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), Kochi, would also be developed as specialist telemedicine centres and linked with the TMCH.

Once the system is put in place, patients in Neyyattinkara, Adoor or Kollam would be able to consult a specialist at the MCH telemedicine hub centre. The doctors at the taluk hospitals would be able to seek a second opinion from specialists at the TMCH, RCC, AIMS or SCTIMST and even transmit diagnostic reports to them for better interpretation.

Video conferencing facilities to be made available at the TMCH would be beneficial for patients with cardiac, nephrologic, gastrointestinal, including liver and spleen diseases, neurological disorders, mental health and psychiatric problems, dermatological diseases, ophthalmic, ENT and paediatric problems.

The telemedicine facility would be extended to north Kerala during the third phase of the project. A hub centre would be developed at the Kozhikode Medical College, which would be linked with all major taluk hospitals in the region.

Recognised by the WHO as a cost effective and practical method to deliver quality health care, telemedicine reduces the need to transfer patients to major hospitals with high medical expertise. It also brings down the number of patient days in the hospitals considerably besides ensuring a high quality diagnostic and therapeutic care to the patients.

Telemedicine, which offers advice through remote communications networks, has grown to become an established service in the developed countries. In India, the facility at present is available only at a few major hospitals in the private sector.