Union Health Mininster Harsh Vardhan lauds achievements of telemedicine service platforms

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan praised the states' contribution in popularising and implementing the usage of telemedicine service platforms.

As per the reports, Vardhan's remarks came on the completion of 1.5 lakh teleconsultations through 'eSanjeevani' and 'eSanjeevniOPD'.  Since the service kickstarted in November 2019,  the teleconsultations have been so far incorporated by 23 states which cover 75 percent of the population. The rest of the states are in the process of rolling it out.

The eSanjeevani OPD telemedicine service makes sure that patients can consult doctors from the ease of their homes, especially amid the COVID-19 crisis. Doctors can also consult their peers theougth eSanjeevani.

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5000 consultations per day

News agency ANI quoted Dr Harsh Vardhan saying, "We had started implementing the vision of Digital India through broadband and mobile phones at the Ayushman Bharat - Health and Wellness Centres. With the cooperation of states and UTs, and a pool of selfless and talented medical practitioners and specialists, we have been able to provide healthcare services through telemedicine platform such as eSanjeevani. This has substantially augmented our health infrastructure during the COVID pandemic". 

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As per reports, the event was also attended by MoS Health Ministry Ashwini Kumar Choubey who said the new platform would be a boon for the people residing in rural areas who do not have access to medical experts located in cities.

According to a press release by the health ministry, so far, a total of 1,58,000 teleconsultations have been offered across the country; of these, 67,000 consultations were provided through eSanjeevani at Ayushman Bharat HWCs, and 91,000 patient to doctor consultations through eSanjeevaniOPD mode.

It added that about 5000 consultations are provided per day through both the modes and states recording highest consultations through the platform include Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh among others. 

(With ANI inputs; Image - PTI)

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