The Anambra state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, has said the state government would in two weeks launch a telemedicine, an online method of consultation, prescription and treatment of patients.
Obidike, who disclosed this at Awka on Friday, while featuring as a guest at the September monthly congress of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Anambra state council, said the initiative would improve the health care delivery, especially at riverine areas.
The commissioner, represented by a staff of the ministry, Dr. Uju Okoye, noted that the method, which would be the first of its kind in the country, would help eradicate the number of deaths being recorded at hard-to-reach areas.
“With Telemedicine, doctors can consult, prescribe and administer treatments to patients in the hard to reach areas by speaking directly with them. They will see the patients through the nurses at the primary health centers via a digital device accessible to them (the patients).
“But hard to treat diseases will be transferred to bigger hospitals closer to the patients. This will be carried out with the help of tricycle (Keke) ambulances to be stationed at all the Primary health centers in the state,” he said.
