This is due to the efforts of a 58-year-old private practitioner, K Jithendranath, who has developed a telemedicine system for a population with limited access to the outside world.
A resident of Sulthan Bathery, 20 km from the Kurichiad tribal settlement, Jithendranath attends to their health issues on the phone and prescribes medicines for free.
“Patients from here usually came in a critical condition... One has to walk 8 km to the nearest sub-centre of the health department,” he said, adding that even there, the tribals couldn’t be sure of finding a doctor.
Although the government introduced a telemedicine project here in 2006, it never took off. “By 2008, only 149 patients had benefited,” said the doctor.
Jithendranath began by conducting a health survey among the tribals, and installing a wireless phone powered by a battery at the small school in Kurichiad. The battery is powered by an inverter and a solar panel. Next he roped in the services of two tribal women.
Patients go to the school and narrate their condition to the two “middlepersons”, Chithra and Vasantha. The latter take the details down and dial Jithendranath, who prescribes the medicines. To ensure an accurate diagnosis, the doctor has a database of the villagers.
“Around 60 types of medicines are kept at the school-clinic,” said the doctor.
Recently, Jithendranath extended clinic timings and now the tribals can reach him any time. Jithendranath also visits and personally examines all patients at times.
What he hopes now is for telecom firms to help ensure better coverage. “The health minister has asked that his work be studied to see if it could be replicated,” said Sulthan Bathery MLA I C Balakrishnan.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Shaju Philip
Quelle/Source: Indian Express, 29.01.2012
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