Addressing the opening session, the Minister of Science and Technology, Alhaji Alhassan Bako Zaku disclosed that the success recorded by the pilot project of Telemedicine had been acknowledged by the various state governments in the country leading to the directive given to their various ministries of health to set up their networks to reach the rural areas and enhance referral systems.
Speaking on the theme of the Telemedicine Evaluation Workshop organised by the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) of the Federal Ministry of Science and technology, the Minister explained that upon the launch of NigComSat-1 in May, 2007, NASRDA embarked on series of Pilot Projects including Telemedicine which was carried out in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja.
"The project has two Teaching Hospitals and six Federal Medical Centres selected across the six geo-political zone of the nation and carried out a rural tour of communities around the locations for survey of predominant diseases like Malaria, Cataract, skin infections among others" he disclosed.
According to the Minister, the results of the Pilot Projects in Telemedicine were the major issues billed for deliberations at the Ibadan workshop which would last two days with a view to evaluating and designing the way forward to advance the healthcare delivery in the country.
He said following the success recorded by the Telemedicine Pilot Project, it was awarded the most innovative user of ICT to enhance healthcare delivery in Africa at the United Nations for Economic Commission for West Africa [UNECA] in 2009 at a Regional workshop held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The Director-General of NASRDA, Dr. Seidu Mohammed had earlier described Telemedicine, one of the spin-offs of space technology exploitation, as the use of telemetry to deliver medical services just as he listed the benefits of Telemedicine. These include, among others, remote accessibility, referral services for specialist, consultation services and remote patient monitoring.
"Medical science is at its best today, but, the benefits are only available to a privileged few in the urban areas," the Director General stated as he noted that the idea of telemedicine would bridge the gap between health service delivery specialists and rural
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Dele Ogunyemi
Quelle/Source: AllAfrica, 25.02.2010
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