Apollo, Anna Univ tie up on tele-health service

CHENNAI: Anna University has entered into a partnership with Apollo Telemedicine Network Foundation (ATNF) to provide Tele-health service at 240 Engineering Colleges in Tamil Nadu. Under this agreement, Apollo would be providing its telemedicine services to all the 240 engineering colleges of Anna University and extend the benefits of telemedicine to students, teachers, faculty and also the villages around these colleges.

With this, Tamil Nadu turns the first state in the world to be networked through Tele-health to reach out to the rural population. J Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu would inaugurate the Anna University — ATNF Tele-Health unit on December 14, 2002 in the presence of the President APJ Abdul Kalam on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of Anna University.

Speaking during the pre-launch ceremony E Balaguruswamy, Vice Chancellor, Anna University termed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Anna University and ATNF as a landmark initiative since the project would reach out to 85 percent of the total population of Tamil Nadu. The engineering colleges would act as nodal service center or community service center.

AIDS awareness program would be an integral part of the Telemedicine network. Out of the 45 lakh HIV positive, a major chunk constitutes the youth. "So this association with Anna University will help the students, staff and the villages adopted by these colleges to avail the HIV services of Apollo. They will get awareness on HIV and our value-added services also. With assistance from National Aids Control Organization this project can move more effectively," said Dr Usha Rani.

The pre-launch ceremony also witnessed tele-neurological consultancy and congenital heart examinations of patients sitting in Madurai Engineering College. "Connecting the 240 colleges through Tele-health network would be completed within the next six months. With the existing back up communication facility at the colleges and the coming of the optical fiber would reduce the overall cost of implementing the telemedicine units," said Dr PC Reddy, Executive Chairman of the Apollo Hospitals Group.