State launches telemedicine services for TB patients
Kolkata: In a unique initiative, the state Health department has launched a telemedicine service for the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) patients.
The medical officers at the telemedicine-enabled hubs in the portal Swasthya Sathi Ingit will provide Tele-consultation services to TB patients or presumptive TB cases attending telemedicine-enabled Su-Swasthya Kendras. Staff nurses will make tele-consultation calls through Swasthya Ingit portal in audio-video conference mode or instant chat mode and provide printouts of prescriptions as per prevailing norms.
“Hub-tuberculosis” consultation will be for two days in a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-3 pm. Doctors for level 2 “Hub-tuberculosis” will form a pool of specialists, medical officers of DRTV centres with experience of treating TB cases. Medical officers at the level 1 Hub may consult the specialist doctors of the level 2. The chief medical officer of health (CMoHs) in all the districts or the Principals or Superintendents of various medical colleges will have to ensure the availability of specialists or experienced medical officers at level 2 tele-medicine hub. The health department has written to the CMoHs in the districts and also to the Chief Medical Officer Officer (CMHO) at Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to ensure additional incentives to ASHA workers working under National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP). An incentive of Rs 50 has been announced for ASHA workers under the ambit of NTEP who are seeding bank account information of notified TB patients on Ni-kshay portal within 15 days of treatment initiation. An additional incentive of Rs 250 was also announced for the individuals for supporting treatment adherence and successful completion of TB preventive treatment among eligible individuals.
As a part of its programme of ‘elimination of tuberculosis in Bengal by 2025’, the state Health department had earlier issued an advisory to all the District Magistrates asking them to improve the existing infrastructure related to the treatment and community support to TB patients.
