Telemedicine is bringing more Filipino doctors to the barrios. The government is now using information and communications technology to expand the scope of public healthcare services to geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas.
Like and Recommend our facebook page
The 73 young medical graduates recently deployed in 5th and 6th class municipalities under the “Doctors to the Barrios” program were trained by the National Telehealth Service Program (NTSP), a collaboration of the Department of Health (DoH), the Department of Science and Technology, and the University of the Philippines Manila, in using telemedicine applications to support their practice in doctor-less and single-doctor communities. They were trained to do telereferrals to refer difficult to handle medical cases to specialists in government-run Philippine General Hospital.
Due to the absence of doctors in rural communities, indigent patients have to travel long hours to seek medical attention from clinical specialists in provincial or city centers. Telemedicine connects health workers from poor remote rural communities to government specialists. Under the five-year NTSP, local health professionals from 606 poorest municipalities and regional centers are connected to clinical specialists via telemedicine.
The 73 doctors were assigned in Northern Mindanao, 12; Eastern Visayas, 10; Western Visayas, seven; Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, seven; Ilocos, six; Cagayan Valley, five; Mimaropa, five; Cordillera Administrative Region, four; Central Visayas, four; Zamboanga Peninsula, three; Central Luzon, two; Calabarzon, two; Bicol Region, two; Caraga, two; Davao, one; and Soccskargen, one.
The government looks forward to expanding the scope of the Doctors to the Barrios program, as it continues to tap the wonders of technology to bring the benefit of quality healthcare and treatment to the majority of Filipinos in disadvantaged communities. - (Manila Bulletin)
0 comments:
Post a Comment