This public- private partnership will enable 11 community/primary health care centres across four districts of Sehore, Datia, Gwalior, and Chhindwara to be connected to district hospitals remotely using Cisco Healthcare Solution
Sehore, India, November 9, 2011 – Cisco today announced the launch of its Cisco healthcare solution pilot in collaboration with Government of Madhya Pradesh (MP) in Sehore. In phase I of deployment, community/primary healthcare centres in Sehore and Gwalior will be connected to the district hospital in these locations. Through this pilot, patients at the CHCs/PHCs will be able to access basic medical treatment and specialist consultations remotely. Cisco’s healthcare solution creates an environment where patients and doctors can meet each other virtually through video without having to commute long distances. Patients visiting these CHCs/PHCs will have their vitals checked by the paramedic/nurse at the centre, while the doctor at the district hospital provides consultation and diagnosis in real time.
At an inauguration ceremony held at Sehore District Hospital, Minister of State for Public Health and Family Welfare – MP, Shri Mahendra Hardia along with Aravind Sitaraman, President, Inclusive Growth, Cisco Systems launched this facility amongst a crowd of local residents from around the region.
Community/primary healthcare centres in Datia and Chhindwara will be connected to the respective district hospitals later. In total, eleven community/primary health care centres across four districts of Sehore, Datia, Gwalior, and Chhindwara will be connected to district hospitals remotely using Cisco Healthcare Solution.
With this project, Cisco further advances its Inclusive Growth vision of using technology to bridge the urban-rural gap. Earlier this year, Cisco launched Inclusive Growth initiative so rural communities can get access to essential urban services like healthcare, education, a marketplace and access to public services through technology and bring them into the mainstream economy. Using the network as a platform, these services can bring about transformational change to rural communities and greatly reduce the urban-rural divide.
Last year, Cisco introduced its healthcare solution at Raichur to enable access to remote healthcare to the people in this district on a proof-of-concept basis. So far, using this technology, RxDx Multispecialty hospital, the medical services company collaborating with Cisco, has treated over 950 patients remotely. Early this year, Cisco Inclusive Growth launched its healthcare pilot in the district of Shimoga to enable remote healthcare in that district. Recently, the Royal Government of Bhutan signed a non-binding MoU with Cisco to explore the use of this technology to bring about Gross National Happiness.
Nearly 70% of India’s population lives in rural areas, but 80% of the total available doctors live in urban areas and patients often have to travel long distances at great cost to get quality healthcare. This gap, poses a huge challenge for delivery of healthcare to rural areas. Cisco’s solution helps alleviate these issues for the rural population
The proactive initiatives of the government of Madhya Pradesh to use Cisco technologies to provide remote healthcare is a positive step to leapfrog these challenges and bring about inclusive growth.
Executive quotes
Shri Mahendra Hardia, Minister of State for Public Health and Family Welfare, Madhya Pradesh
“The Government of Madhya Pradesh is keen to provide affordable and easily accessible healthcare to its population. We are sure our collaboration with Cisco will help us achieve this goal. We are confident that we will be able to ensure better reach and provide quality healthcare using technology. By providing equity in access to quality healthcare the Government of Madhya Pradesh is sure it will greatly improve the quality of life of its people.”
Aravind Sitaraman, president, Inclusive Growth, Cisco Systems
“Healthcare and its inaccessibility is a persistent concern in rural India. Lack of access to this basic service in remote and rural areas and the shortage of medical professionals to provide this service is aggravating the divide between rural and urban populations. Technology adoption can help tackle this challenge and aid the nation in achieving its goal of inclusive growth. Using networking technology we can virtualize scarce resources including doctors, nurses and paramedics and provide access to specialist consultants remotely. We are happy to work with the Government of Madhya Pradesh to enable it to provide affordable healthcare to its citizens. This collaboration will change the way people live today in rural areas.”
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