eHealth and Telemedicine in India: An Overview on the Health Care Need of the People

Abstract

We have reached far ahead today when it comes to the telemedicine technology which was first installed in Boston in 1967 that made a regular interaction between physicians and patients at distant locations. Being a developing and lower-middle income country, currently India faces shortage of doctors, nurses & midwives, and healthcare infrastructure. Around 70% of Indian population lives in remote and rural villages lacking access to basic healthcare facilities. In such situations telemedicine plays a great role in providing quality and affordable healthcare to India’s poorest people, and is expected to bridge the rural-urban health divide. Whether telemedicine technology meets its objective to provide adequate healthcare services to the poor remote and rural population is matter of great concern. This article aims to provide an overview on this issue.