Tanzania looks to India to set up tele-medicine network

A high-level delegation of medical experts from Tanzania led by its Health Minister Seif Suleiman Rashid today visited the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences here to study its tele-medicine programme with a view to setting up a similar facility in their country.
A team of 23 top administrators and senior doctors from Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam is visiting India to understand the working of tele-medicine programmes.
The tele-medicine centre at the institute, set up 15 years back, offers crucial medical assistance to doctors in far-flung areas through audio-video remote linkages.
Equipped with ultra-modern infrastructure, the institute also offers training in Robotic Surgery and has provided consultation during live surgeries held at locations as far away as the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Kochi.

The School of Telemedicine and Bio Medical Informatics is the "first academic institution of its kind" dedicated exclusively to healthcare informatics in a public-funded academic medical institutional set-up, the institute claims.
"Ordinarily, such international delegations seldom visit institutions outside New Delhi due to logistical constraints, but it's indeed a matter of pride that now the international fraternity is looking towards SGPGI for assistance and help in technical expertise," said the institute's senior PRO, Monalisa Choudhary.
The Tanzanian delegation is looking to understand India's legal processes, procedures and policies for implementing telemedicine protocols. It is also seeking to establish linkages and networks with counterparts in India for exchange of ideas and experiences vis-a-vis matters relating to the development of e-government, she said.