The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research [CSIR] and IT major Hewlett Packard on Tuesday announced the development of a system that would provide affordable health care to the rural poor and at the same time facilitate faster discovery of drugs for various diseases.
The system is based on a combination of the latest in IT – cloud computing and standard shipping containers, which have become unusable for normal freight movement.
While the containers would be used for setting up basic health centres in remote areas at a much faster pace and at much less cost than a conventional brick and mortar centre and thus offer primary health facilities quicker and cheaper, the cloud computing would help scientists working in laboratories afar have access to a large amount of various types of physiological and other data that are required in finding out new drugs for different diseases. The system would also feature a telemedicine studio, a laboratory and a pharmacacy.
Director General of CSIR, Samir Brahmachari, said that with the new system, the Council was now positioned to make novel discoveries to create ultra affordable drugs and other health care products and services, while bringing affordable healthcare services to the doorsteps of the people. .
Country Managing Director of HP India, Neelam Dhawan, said the collaborative project was another step in the company’s endeavour to join hands with Government health authorities and organisations to reinvent medical processes, modernise systems and develops solutions that dramatically expand access, improve health care and save lives.
A pilot project of the system is been implemented and tested at a village in Kaithal district of Haryana in partnership with O.P.Jindal Gramin Jan Kalyan Sansthan, a NGO for rural welfare run by the Jindal group. [The village where it is being tested comes under the Parliamentary constituency of Mr. Jindal].
3M India, and Orion eService are also involved in the pilot project. A press release issued at the launch function noted that over 4,000 patients were recorded in the first 100 days of its operation.
Union Minister for Science and Technology, Jaipal Reddy, launching the new system, expressed the hope that there would be more such collaborations between the Government-run research institutions and the private sector towards solving the various problems facing the country.
