Lok Sabha Question No. 2868 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-02
Subject: Telemedicines Solutions in Health Services
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: M. I. SHANAVAS

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2868 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND DECEMBER, 2016

## TELEMEDICINES SOLUTI ONS IN HEALTHSERVICE S

## 2868. SHRI M.I. SHANAVAS:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  owing  to  the  shortage  of doct rs  and  hospitals  in  rural  areas  of  the country  the Government  has  decided  to employ telemedicines  solutions  throughout the  rural  areas  of  the country,
- (b)  whether  any  pilot  programme  has been  designed  by  C -DAC  to  ascertain  the efficacy  of telemedicines solutions which has been deployed in any village in the country especially in the far off villages with scarce reach of medical diagnostic facilities;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d)  whether  the  C - DAC  has  developed Mobile  Tele  Oncology  System  and  Mobile Tele Ophthalmology System to enhance diagnostic abilities in these disease domains; and
- (e) if so, th e details thereof with results achieved so far?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL )

(a): Yes. Public  health  being  a  state  subject,  primary  responsibility  to  provide  heal services to citizens lies with State/UT Governments. However, under National Health Mis (NHM)  scheme,  support  is  being  provided  to  States/UTs  for  strengthening  their  heal thcare system  including  Telemedicine  based  on  the  requirements  posed  by  them  in  Programme Implementation Plan (PIP).Financial support has been provided to Maharashtra, Rajasthan Tripura during the current financial year for strengthening the Telemedici ne infrastructure.

Department of Space is also operating 105 Telemedicine centres across the Country .

(b)& (c): Yes. CDAC is in process of implementation of a Telemedicine project named as DISC  (Health) -Mission  for  Developing  Digitally  Inclusive  and  Sm art  Community  with  the purpose  of  Pan  India  implementation  of  telemedicine  technology  by  establishing  Te -Consultation Centres (TCC) to reduce the divide pertaining to health services in urban a areas.

The overall objective of the DISC project also includes evaluation of the acceptability o telemedicine  linkage  through  TCC  between  community  level  and  specialist  level  healthc setups.

(d) & (e): Yes.  Under  a  Research  &  Development  project  funded  to  C - DAC,  following Mobile Tele - Oncology System and Mobile Tele -Ophthalmology System have been developed.

- i.Mobile Tele -Oncology Unit 'Sanjeevani' was deployed at Malabar Cancer Care Society, Kannur in January 2010. As a part of this initiative, around 369 camps have been condu 74901  people have  been  examined,  6500  disease  cases  have  been  identified,  450  cance cases have been detected, 127 cryo surgeries for initial stage cervical cancer have b and  241  cases  have  been  referred  to  specialty  hospitals  in  46  Panchayats/Municipal covering population of 24,29,215 people.
- ii. Two Mobile Tele ophthalmology Units 'Sunayanam' and 'Nayanapadham' were deployed at  Regional  Institute  of  Ophthalmology,  Trivandrum  in  2011  and  at  District  Hospi Palakkad in November 2012 respectively.  In Triva ndrum, till July 2016,   562 camps have been conducted, 8628 patients have been examined, 2059 Diabetic retinopathy cases a 1202 Glaucoma cases have been detected and in Palakkad, 251 camps have been conducted 9050 patients have been examined and 575 Di abetic Retinopathy cases and 26 Glaucoma cases have been identified till March 31, 2016.