An Idea whose Time has come : the Health Camp at Ajmer !

In a perfect combination of healthcare and technology, a unique health camp has caught the attention of people of Rajasthan. This unique effort saw renowned doctors travelling to Ajmer and treating people with the help of latest Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools.

“”Though the basic idea behind the entire project, which took us weeks to prepare, was to ensure presence of leading doctors at Ajmer so that poor and rural people could get basic treatment and consultancy from them, and only patients who require advanced healthcare are taken to Delhi or other places, we wanted to prove that India is ready with its ICT tools to be utilised for medical care,”” said Mr. Sachin Pilot.

“”In two days we showcased the prowess of telemedicine and how it can change the way people gets treated in India without travelling to cities…we roped in telemedicine units of various hospitals like Apollo and also technology companies like the Department of Information Technology’s Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Cisco and Tulip Telecom. We combined their capabilities to set up a unique health camp and help leading doctors provide latest medical care with all possible diagnostic paraphernalia required,”” Mr. Pilot pointed out.

In the camp, the telemedicine division of the Apollo Hospitals facilitated virtual consultations using a well-equipped hospital on wheels (HoW) sourced from its Hyderabad unit. Each of the five cubicles in the HoW were connected to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bhubaneshwar and Ahmedabad simultaneously. Some of the cubicles had telemedicine enabled peripheral medical devices for transmitting ECGs, heart sounds, blood pressure and pulse rate oxygen saturation, thus helping doctors to treat a patient on real-time basis.

For the record, in just two days over 70,000 people from Ajmer and surrounding areas were given medical consultancy and treatment, while 5,000 reading glasses and spectacles and 800 hearing aids were; distributed to the needy. Over 300 tricycles and wheel-chairs and 200 crutches were also given free of cost, while almost 30,000 various medical tests were conducted. Another 20,000 medical kits comprising antiseptic cream, oral rehydration solution, de-worming tablets, vitamins, over-the-counter medicines were distributed a t the camp.