Naveed Ahmed

Poor health conditions have led to the outbreak of epidemics in the flood-affected areas. In order to help flood victims, the policymakers should draw on the expertise of COMSATS Tele-Health Program (CTH) in the rural areas, reports WealthPK.

Nasir Jamal, Chief Operating Officer at the COMSATS Technological Park, told WealthPK that COMSATS is a pioneer in telehealth services in Pakistan. Through telehealth, patients can communicate with a medical professional virtually rather than in person and doctors can discuss symptoms and medical issues with the patients. More than 65,000 consultations have been carried out so far.

Nasir said women and children were the main recipients of the previously implemented health services, and they demonstrated a respectable degree of happiness, acceptability, and comfort with the method of service delivery.

He said it is challenging for the government to physically enter the submerged regions. However, the flood victims may receive medical assistance in outlying locations by using the CTH services, as the service providers have prior experience running prosperous model projects in Balochistan and the Northern Areas.

‘’The CTH will continue to make an effort to offer primary care, dermatology, internal medicine, maternity care, and ultrasounds to the victims in the impacted areas. The physicians at the COMSATS Resource Centre are better able to pinpoint the issues – thanks to the tele-ultrasound capabilities. In addition, preventive care telehealth clinics treat a variety of serious illnesses, including malnutrition, lung infections, and gastrointestinal issues,’’ Nasir said.

The team is optimistic. Even when the flood disaster is gone, people will continue to rely on tele-clinics as their main medical resource, which will assist the government in meeting its health-related goals, he added.

Through training and activities, COMSATS Tele-health also aims to support the growth of the regional paramedical staff. Creation of sustainable human resources will be the main goal of the CTH operations.

The health professionals and stakeholders will become more knowledgeable about the IT-based instruments in the healthcare system thanks to the CTH capacity-building programme. The CTH will accomplish this via hosting conferences, workshops, and seminars on IT.

Basic computer skills, tele-health tools and software, using an ultrasound probe and tele-consultation SoPs will all be covered in the programme. Such fundamental training will be supplemented by ongoing skill development and capacity building of telehealth clinic staff members during daily online consultations with doctors.

Despite having a wealth of experience, the lack of funding makes it difficult to implement this plan in the flood-prone areas. Indigenous support is already present for several of CTH's projects. As a result, the organisation will soon be unable to offer the flood victims timely assistance. To implement this programme, support from the government, philanthropists, and international funders is required.

Another obstacle in deploying these services is bureaucratic delays. If policymakers follow hectic procedures to approve the project documents, it would not be possible to start the programme on time. Instead of delaying project consent, the higher authorities should fast-track approvals by the executive orders.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk