Mumbai, Jun 08: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will enable hospitals in 72 districts in the north-eastern states to access the best of health services of urban-based superspeciality hospitals in the country in the next 12 months, according to its chairman Dr K Kasturirangan. In its ongoing tele-medicine services, initiated a year back, "ISRO will enable the health services to reach the district hospitals in the north-eastern states,” Kasturirangan said here. ISRO has connected hospitals in 17 districts in different states including those in Andaman, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh with 10 superspeciality hospitals in various metropolitan cities in the last one year, benefitting over 10,000 patients, he said.

"In fact, this connectivity has provided near instantaneous attention to the needy patients and the course of treatment, which has resulted in 80 per cent savings to the patient,” Kasturirangan said.
There are also plans to connect hospitals in Lakshadweep, two districts each in West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttaranchal with superspeciality hospitals in the coming year, he said.
Kasturirangan was in the city yesterday for a joint close-door administrative meeting of department of atomic energy and ISRO along with the director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Dr R A Mashelkar and chairman and managing director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited Dr V K Chaturvedi.

Bureau Report