I am indeed delighted to be in Almora once again. I have visited Almora for a number of times for many tasks. Particularly today I am all the more happy to participate in the launching of a Mobile Clinic and Research Centre in Uttaranchal. The mission is very noble, to give medical assistance in remote parts of Uttaranchal. At this juncture I recall one incident when I visited Rajkot in Gujarat. I was talking to a few thousand high school students. During the interaction with the students I asked one 10th class student, what will you do after 10+2? He gave an quick answer, "I will become an engineer and will work for making India a number one nation", another girl student said that she will become a teacher to remove the ignorance and illiteracy. Yet another girl student responded to the question, "I will become a medical doctor and remove the pain of the people. Normally children will say that the parents suggested that they should become a doctor or the friends suggestion to make lot of money. But this girl said she wanted to remove the pain of the people. This is really a powerful thought. The mission here , in Almora is to give timely help to the people in remote corners who need medical assistance and remove the pain, My greetings to the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council [TIFAC], the Government of Uttaranchal and Birla Institute of Scientific Research and also many agencies who have contributed. It should increase in numbers to provide healthcare services through mobile clinics with latest equipments for common treatment to those who are mostly unreached and cannot afford the medical facilities available in cities. I congratulate the initiative of Govt of Uttaranchal, TIFAC and the Birla Institute of Scientific Research for their great contribution.

I have seen the mobile clinic equipped with modern equipments and onboard facilities like X-Ray, Ultra-Sound, ECG and above all this mobile clinic will be supported by a team of doctors including a Lady Medical Officer, a Radiologist and Paramedics. In addition the vehicle is equipped to impart healthcare education through audio-visual facilities. I am sure the TIFAC, Uttaranchal Government, many institutions and industries will participate in connecting Uttaranchal through telemedicine that will network well equipped urban hospitals with district hospitals and public health centers through electronic connectivity including satellite communication to provide in real time latest medical diagnosis facilities.

Results of integrated multiple technologies

I witnessed an experiment that I would like to share with you when I was at Hyderabad. I was in a hall at the CARE Hospital. The hall was full of medical doctors, communication engineers, computer scientists, software experts and industry chiefs. The whole place has been geared for a telemedicine experiment. A patient was tested, in a far off place from Hyderabad, for ECG, liver functioning in real-time. The hall almost turned into an electronic hospital. We could see the doctors and the patients interaction. Record the ECG data with high resolution, we could witness the liver functioning of patients, doctors consultations, the grade of performance, status of ECG and the interesting part is the patient's cooperation with scientists and doctors. It was an experience for me as a person from non-medical field, how tele medicine brought together engineering and medical science and patient irrespective of distance through satellite communication, software and data compression and video and audio integrated. Telemedicine is one area which will take advanced medical technology to the rural villages and give a connectivity between primary health centres, area hospitals, district hospitals and specialty hospitals at capital cities. Such facilities have been established very recently during my visit to Bhopal and Tripura. I would say, that the future technology cannot be functioning alone. It has to be integrated with medicine, it has to be integrated with agriculture, it has to be integrated with communication, and above all it has to be integrated with the people and their need like societal and transparent management.

Conclusion

Self-reliance is all the more applicable to the healthcare. The technologies have been conditioned to function optimally for the ambience of a particular regions of the country. The effective support services for proper maintenance of expensive medical equipments are also not available. I am confident that a specialised medical team and mobile research centers can act as change agents to activate and reinforce self-reliance through indigenous technology supported healthcare in a mission mode.

Various Government and NGOs agencies can assist and enrich our land by adopting villages and clusters of families by financing community health projects including dental healthcare, mobile setups, treatment centers, and installing/maintaining critically required medical and diagnostic equipment. Health-care can be achieved very fast and in very tangible terms. Even a small contribution to the education and prosperity of people indirectly assist the availability of healthcare.

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