Philips, ISRO, Apollo and DHAN tie up to provide rural healthcare

MADURAI: Philips India, a subsidiary of the Netherlands based Royal Philips Electronics, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), part of the Department of Space under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation (ATNF) and Development of Humane Action (DHAN), a Madurai based NGO have collaborated for DISHA (Distance Healthcare Advancement) - a telemedicine project aimed at meeting the healthcare needs of the less privileged in India.

According to the press release, the DISHA initiative is being piloted in Theni district in Tamil Nadu and was formally inaugurated in Madurai. Philips has custom-built a tele-clinical van complete with diagnostic equipment, including an ultrasound machine, X-ray machine, a defibrillator and an ECG machine. This van with dedicated doctors and other para-medical staff will operate in the areas around Theni district in Tamil Nadu.

For the DISHA project, ISRO is providing the connectivity through VSAT and allocating the required bandwidth on its INSAT satellite free of cost. The Apollo Specialty Hospitals, Madurai, a super-specialty tertiary care hospital in Madurai, is the referral hospital for the DISHA mobile tele-clinical van. Dhan Foundation provides the vital link to the local community and will play a key role in community participation for the project. It would will provide counseling (through domiciliary follow-ups) to the patients on nutrition and hygiene.

The release further states that the DISHA tele-clinical van will travel to identified locations once a week and it is expected to cover a population of 500,000. This pilot project will be evaluated and the results will be used to build a business model for a healthcare delivery system including the pricing for such a facility. Support of additional NGO's will also be sought to strengthen the interaction between the patients, doctors and the facilities.