AP tops the list in the country in providing telemedicine services

The Andhra Pradesh state tops the list in the country regarding providing telemedicine services. The Central Government launched e-Sanjeevani Telemedicine services across the country in November 2019. Against this backdrop, the state government has set up 13 hubs in medical colleges in 13 districts. In addition to these 1,145 PHCs in the state, YSR Village clinics are linked. E-Sanjeevani (OPD) services have been available since last year to enable people with smartphones to access telemedicine services from home. At present APVs constitute the highest percentage of consultations coming to Telemedicine daily from all the States and Union Territories of the country. The central government has also repeatedly stated that the state is a leader in telemedicine services.

There have been 2,43,00,635 consultations nationwide since the inception of telemedicine services. Of these, 42 percent or 1,02,03,821 are from APs while Karnataka is in second place with 37,70,241 consultations. There are currently up to 75,000 consultations per day from the state. The Sanjeevani OPD app has already been downloaded by 85,351 people in the state. The state government has distributed smartphones to 42,000 Asha workers in the state to raise awareness among those who are unfamiliar with the use of smartphones on these vital services. These are connected to the hubs. The Medical and Health Department has made all arrangements to bring telemedicine services closer to the people through Asha workers soon.

The government currently serves 13 telemedicine hubs in each of the 13 districts in the state. As part of its expansion, it is setting up 14 new hubs at a cost of over Rs. 5 crores. Of these, 7 hubs have already started. Each hub will have two general medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, and cardiology specialists.

Katamaneni Bhaskar, commissioner of the medical and health department said that the state is a leader in telemedicine services. "We will reach 2 lakh consultations per day by March this year and aim to do 5 lakh consultations per day by the end of this year. Thus everyone in the state gets telemedicine services an average of three times a year," Bhaskar said.