Remote healthcare management

A slow, silent revolution is under way in the country’s health sector through the availability of wider internet access. Pakistan has always faced a shortage of doctors in rural areas not just because the financial rewards are not high as those available in urban areas but also because doctors would prefer to live and practise in a city. But through a health tech startup based in Karachi, it is now possible for doctors to reach out to patients thousands of kilometres away from them, diagnose their illness and cure them as well. Such a promising use of telemedicine can also unfreeze the careers of women doctors who often have to give up their jobs after marriage. There are other benefits as well. Patients with say limited mobility no longer have to venture out far from the comfort of their homes to receive treatment. Even those fit enough to travel to the city for treatment are spared long hours of commuting to the hospital and back. For a society that is deeply conservative and patriarchal in character, it may be just what the physician ordered and what the patient needed.

The health tech startup is a breath of fresh air considering the country’s high infant mortality rate and the abysmal level of healthcare spending – estimated to be in the region of 0.5 and 0.8 per cent of GDP.  Some 50,000 or more patients have received treatment in such clinics across the country. Online examination and treatment may be cheaper and convenient for all as far as consultancy and medical expertise is concerned. However, it is unlikely to be useful for patients with serious ailments and especially those who need immediate hospitalisation and special care from then onwards. Such clinics can at least nudge patients in the right direction, telling them where to go and the kind of medicines they need to take. The government must find new and better ways to tap into the potential of digital information. There must also be adequate investment in digital healthcare if we are to resolve the health problems of our struggling masses.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2018.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.