Pilot project on tele-medicine in Melghat district ( Maharashtra) soon

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government is planning to roll out 'a telemedicine service' in the remote areas which do not have enough healthcare facilities, health minister Deepak Sawant said here today.

A pilot project would start next month in the tribal Melghat district next month. Under the service, telecommunication and information technology would be used to give people access to healthcare, however the government would have to first set up the necessary infrastructure in these areas, he said.

"First we will take up Melghat, followed by remote areas of 15 tribal districts," Sawant said, adding, the government will also encourage the corporate sector to include healthcare in CSR activities.

The state government and Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai would start Arogya Vardhini programme next month to provide packets of nutritious food to patients who are being treated for moderate drug resistance (MDR) or extreme drug resistance (XDR) variants of TB, he said.

Sawant also said 25 to 30 per cent posts in the health department were vacant and the posts of medical officers would be filled from the next month.

Post-MBBS diploma courses like Diplomate of National Board (DNB) and College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) would be started at district level, Sawant said.