           ISLAMABAD, Nov 02 (DNA): Federal Minister for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Syed Mustafa Kamal on Monday announced the establishment of 10 additional telemedicine centres in collaboration with Sehat Kahani to expand access to healthcare services through technology and reduce the burden on public hospitals.
Addressing the MoU signing ceremony in Islamabad, the minister said the government had already established 10 telemedicine centres, including six in Islamabad and four in Karachi, while the latest agreement would further expand the initiative.
He announced that Pakistan’s first state-of-the-art telemedicine centre would also be established at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) following the shifting of its emergency department to a new building.
The minister said the first phase of the telemedicine initiative had been successfully completed and the system had already helped save approximately Rs70 million for the public within a short period of its launch.
He said the initiative would facilitate patients through improved access to medical consultations, adding that 500 new doctors had been added to the telemedicine network.
Under the arrangement, the government would provide space and medicines for the centres, while Sehat Kahani would bear the doctors’ consultation fees, he added.
Mustafa Kamal said technology was bringing significant improvements to the healthcare delivery system and making medical services more accessible to the public.
He said the government planned to extend the telemedicine network to Gilgit-Baltistan and other areas to ensure that people in underserved regions could also benefit from remote medical consultations.
The minister congratulated the people of Islamabad on the expansion of technology-based healthcare services and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to improving access to quality medical care through innovative solutions.
