e-health care project launched in Sirsa

An ambitious e-Health initiative has been laun-ched by the
e-Health Institute with support from Digital Partners India in Sirsa, Haryana.
The project aims to ensure uniformly accessible, afforda-ble and equitable
healthcare for rural populations by using Information and Communi-cation
Technologies (ICTs) enab-lers with pre-existing though underutilized public
health services.

Digital Partners India that started its operations in 2001 in
New Delhi has been engaged in exploring the ways ICTs can help generate the
momentum to bridge the digital divide and empower the poor.

According to Digital Partners India president Satish Jha, the
e-health program that is being piloted in Sirsa district in the northern Indian
state of Har-yana involves the development of a Web based e-health soft-ware
application that records a comprehensive health profile for each patient at the
Primary Health Center (PHC).

"This would include informa-tion such as date of birth,
immunization schedules and details of illnesses, treatment, follow ups, future
appoint-ments with doctors and so on. All health related data is captu-red at
the local health care delivery center and is made available to all medical
profes-sionals on an as-required basis after due authorization," he
explained.

Jha said that the application also facilitated mapping of
healthcare information to other layers of healthcare delivery system such as
community hea-lthcare, state and district health programs, hospitals and specia-list
healthcare centers etc, enhancing the efficacy of health education and awareness
programs.

"The application not only helps in simplifying and
suppo-rting rural healthcare delivery but also goes a long way in assi-sting
state and local authorities in devising pertinent healthcare strategies and
improving the overall health situation in rural areas," he said.

Earlier, Digital Partners India supported the National
Network for India’s Vote Smart India (VSI) initiative during the recent Delhi
Asse-mbly elections. VSI is a cam-paign run by the National Network For India (NNFI).
Digital Partners India suppor-ted NNFI by helping it develop a Web-based
application that disseminates information for each candidate contesting
elections.

This application allows for voters and the contesting can-didates
to post their comments and interact with each other through the website.

Nanda Kasabe

(CyberMedia News Service)