The Maharashtra government on Friday said it is rolling out the tele-ICU service in a number of districts as it has given effective results to combat COVID-19.
On Friday, State Health Minister Rajesh Tope inaugurated the tele-ICU service for Jalgaon and Akola districts. “We have already started this service in Bhiwandi, Aurangabad, Jalna and Solapur. We are now adding two more districts. The method has been proving effective in curing COVID-19 patients. We aim to bring down the fatality rate to 1% using this,” said Mr. Tope.
A tele-ICU enables off-site clinicians to interact with bedside staff to consult on patient care.
Last month, participating in a video-conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had mentioned about the implementation of tele-ICU method in the State and had said that the government intends to expand the scheme, especially in remote parts which lack medical experts and can help the patients from distant places using latest communication technology.
“State-of-the-art technology must be used to lower the death rate and to save lives. We are concerned about the death rate of corona patients in the State. We aim to bring it down to 1% or even less,” said Mr. Tope.
The Health Minister said that lack of availability of experts in medical field can be compensated using the tele-ICU method. “We have started these services in six districts as of now. But we want to expand the scope of this scheme in all remote areas and primary discussions for the same are complete,” he said. Presently, the scheme is being provided under the Corporate Social Responsibility initiative of Mediscape India Foundation.
