Indian American non-profit organisation American Telangana Society (ATS) in partnership with the Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA) launched a one-of-a-kind COVID Dawakhana at the Zilla Parishad High School in Maganoor to help patients battling COVID-19 in rural areas of the state.
Funded by ATS, the initiative paves the way for villagers to seek consultation online at the COVID Dawakhana centre, where two doctors will be available along with two health volunteers.
The consultation will be done through the TConsult app, a telemedicine service launched by TITA in 2020.
"We chose Maganoor because for a population of 56,000 there's only one doctor with a bachelor's degree in medicine. No specialised doctors are available and the district hospital is about 42 km away from the village," said TITA Global President Sundeep Kumar Makthala, adding that at the launch of the services, villagers availed online medical advice on COVID-19 from doctors at nine sub-centres.
Makthala also said that people from Narayanpet were traveling to neighbouring Mahabubnagar for medical services, and after taking cognisance of the problem, the organisation devised a plan to provide medical services at Narayanpet. "Efforts are being made to provide international-level medical care to locals through COVID Dawakhana initiative," he said.
Plan to Expand Service Across Villages
TITA is offering to provide technical and other local logistics and arrangements at the medical centre, Matkhala said. The organisation has also announced that it will expand its services across the state in the coming days.
TS IT and Industry Principal Secretary Jayesh Ranjan launched the first COVID Dawakhana virtually in Maganoor on Friday. Speaking at the event, Ranjan lauded the initiative, stating it was the need of the hour for people in rural areas.
Worried at the raging pandemic in rural areas, ATS reached out to TITA with a plan to sponsor online health and medical services for the public. The two organisations have partnered with the Telangana government to introduced e-consultation services at government schools in the villages.
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