Swasthya Ingit: In less than a month, over 10 lakh callers avail the telemedicine facility

kolkata: The telemedicine facility 'Swasthya Ingit,' which was launched barely three weeks back, received huge response as more than 10 lakh people called so far. On August 2, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched 'Swasthya Ingit.'

Sources in the state government said the decision to launch the telemedicine facility was taken after it was found that many critical patients who stay in districts wanted consultation of city-based doctors and the telemedicine facility helped them a lot.A senior official of the state government said: "In the telemedicine facility, a doctor gives four minute consultation to a patient and we have seen that mostly women from districts are interested in the telemedicine facility and there was a huge response from districts like Malda, Murshidabad, Paschim Midnapore, Purulia in South Bengal and Balurghat in North Bengal." In Bengal, around 2362 telemedicine centres have been set up in the state and around 10 lakh beneficiaries received the benefits under this facility.

After consultation, a specialist refers the patient to a nearby sub centre. If the patient needs more specialised treatment, he or she is referred to the city-based health care facilities. Till now, around 1 lakh patients have been referred to medical colleges in the state. Senior officials of the state Health department said normally patients with acute pancreatic, gasterentological problems or those suffering from various bacterial infections have been advised for medical consultation in various state-run medical colleges.