ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi said that there was a need to invest in telemedicine through enhanced infrastructure, technology and human resource to provide equitable health facilities to the population living in remote areas of Pakistan.
The president made these remarks while chairing a meeting on telehealth at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on Monday.
The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC) Dr Faisal Sultan, Director-General Health Dr Rana Muhammad Safdar, and other senior officials of the Government of Pakistan.
The president has emphasized the need for establishing primary healthcare telemedicine clinics to provide free advice to the people and improve the quality of care in the country.
The Ministry of NHSRC gave a presentation about the importance of telehealth in Pakistan.
The ministry informed that it provided free online consultation across Pakistan under the Sehat Express Portal, which provided medical advice to people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The president underscored the need to strengthen the capacity of the health sector at the national level with the help of medical professionals in the fields of public health and artificial intelligence to analyze various datasets and predict outbreaks of epidemics.
He stated that the government of Pakistan was committed to transform health care delivery sector of the entire country and initiate measures to provide free-of-cost medical advice to the people under the tele-health program.
He emphasized the need for amalgamating all platforms working for tele-health in the country so as to provide medical relief to people in a more efficient and effective manner.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021