Enhancing the Reach of Health Care Through Telemedicine

Abstract

Healthcare sector is now using telemedicine solutions to increase the reach of its services to population. Target areas are highly sparsely distributed devoid of basic amenities which makes the job of Governments difficult. Further people don't have enough disposable income to travel long distances and take preventive health care from urban areas. Problems are uniformly the same across the developing countries. The mindboggling developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) particularly the web based technologies have opened up exciting new possibilities for health care across the world. These developments have evoked significant policy response in developing countries where the quality of health care is poor, resources are scarce and demands have to be immediately met. Telemedicine is gradually coming up as a viable policy option for the Governments in developing countries. This chapter gives an account of the telemedicine initiatives taken in India, describes emerging regional cooperation and its contribution for Sustainable Development Goals.