As a way of enabling vulnerable persons have access to medical professionals and efficient healthcare from doctors abroad, Edo State Government will on Tuesday, June 7 kickstart a telemedicine services through out the state.
The Association of Nigeria Physicians in America will work with physicians, surgeons and other healthcare specialists in Edo State to provide free healthcare for Edo people.
As part of the initiative, patients in Edo health centres will be scheduled for consultations with the doctors based in the United States of America right in their offices overseas.
The Edo State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Obehi Akoria who disclosed this Saturday during a visit to one of the telemedince facilities at Oredo primary health centre in Benin City noted that the services will leverage the primary healthcare centres ability
to deliver medical care to patients from a far distance using the existing broadband infrastructure.
She said that the programme will provide quality healthcare services to Edo residents for free, adding that they have attended to over 25 persons since it began on Saturday, May 28
She said: “The doctors in America will be on the screen, talking to the patients in Benin, asking questions, making decisions, at the end, write prescriptions and the patients go home with their medicines which is free.
“There will be an official launch of this program on Tuesday. The launch is to tell the world that it has been tested and proven that it is possible. We have people who have benefited from it. On that Tuesday, our partners from the United States of America will be physically on ground. Last Saturday, we saw 12 patients and that has been going on since.”
The commissioner noted that he first phase of the programme was the proof of concept phase which is working seamlessly but needed to be strengthened.
According to her, the next phase is for the ministry to scale and will be outside Benin.
“Now, we are scaling, we are using this place for now. We are moving to Ugbor Primary Healthcare Centre and from there, we will gradually scale to other places. If there is a problem in Auchi or Ibilo, the same way somebody stays in America and talk to that person in Benin and sort out the problem, that will be the same way it will be done in Auchi or Ibilo.
“As it is right now, this is being done on a purely volunteer basis. It is a free services courtesy of the government of Edo State. The government is investing in the hardwares, computers, Internet and solar panels required for this job,” she said.
Sounding optimistic, Mrs. Akokia remarked that the programme will be a whole department on its own, where dedicated staff will be employed to troubleshoot across the state, helping to solve issues by deploying technology.
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