National meet on telemedicine from today

Express News Service Posted: Nov 14, 2008 at 0237 hrs
Chandigarh, November 13 Nearly 200 scientists and experts, including those from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) involved in the Chandrayaan-I mission, are expected to participate in the fourth national conference on Telemedicine Society of India — Telemedicon ’08 — which is organised by C-DAC, Mohali and the PGIMER. The three-day conference will begin on November 14.

The conference is based on — “Telemedicine-Rural and Remote Reach” and is the first exclusive national conference being organised in India that covers the various facets of healthcare delivery through technology-based system.

“The conference aims to create awareness among the various healthcare providers, doctors and administrators about the ways and benefits of adopting the emerging telemedicine technology as an effective tool for healthcare delivery,” said Prof S K Jindal, head of the telemedicine project in PGI.

The PGI already has a linkage with Bhutan through the telemedicine project and the conference will discuss the healthcare requirements in other SAARC countries, Africa and South-East Asia to help provide better insight into the development of telemedicine facility in these countries.

“The advantage of telemedicine in reaching out to the rural population has been well established through the experience of the present network,” said J S Bhatia, director of C-DAC Mohali.

An exhibition displaying the latest technology involved in equipment, software and systems, medical informatics and innovative clinical methods for healthcare, will also be conducted during Telemedicon08.