Eleventh Five Year Plan

86 Eleventh Five Year Planand indigenous satellite communication technologywith trained human resources in this regard. A numberof pilot projects on e-Health over the past years byprivate concerns, corporate, NGOs, medical colleges,and research institutions have been set up. The successfuloutcome of many of these initiatives needs tobe evaluated and scaled up.3.1.112 Health Management Information System(HMIS) would be an important new initiative utilizingdevelopments in the field of IT. A computerizedweb enabled data capturing and analytical systemwill be established to provide valid and reliable dataand reports for use at all levels. This would not onlyfacilitate proper ME of different programmes underimplementation but will also help in various aspectsof service delivery. The HMIS will also integrate thevarious vertical systems having their own reportingmachinery into an integrated umbrella of holisticME to cater to the needs of Sarva Swasthya Abhiyan.The data will flow directly from the periphery.The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP)will eventually be a by-product of the HMIS. As thesystem stabilizes and the penetration of computerizationat the block level increases, the system will bemodular enough to expand the scope to the remotestareas. Wastage of drugs due to date expiry also needsto be curtailed by demand-driven management andredistribution of medicines nearing date of expiry.HMIS when fully developed and implemented willtrack demand and supply and continuously monitorthe drug situation.3.1.113 Telemedicine could help to bring specializedhealth care to the remotest corners of the country.Telemedicine is likely to provide the advantages of telediagnosis,especially in the areas of cardiology, pathology,dermatology, and radiology besides continuingmedical education (CME). It will be of immense usefor diagnostic and consultative purposes for patientsgetting treatment from the secondary level healthcare facilities. The efficacy of telemedicine has alreadybeen shown through the network established by theIndian Space Research Organization (ISRO) that hasconnected 42 super-specialty hospitals with 8 mobiletelemedicine vans and 200 rural and remote hospitalsBox 3.1.11Making Health Care Affordable—The Experience of Jan Swasthya Sahyog (JSS)For the last seven years, a group of dedicated young doctors from institutes like CMC, Vellore and AIIMS have been workingto make health in the hinterlands, available, accessible, and affordable. The JSS team has given up lucrative jobs, sparkling citylights, and hefty pay packets to develop cheap, accurate and easy-to-use technology that can be used for prevention, diagnosis,and treatment of diseases in remote, tribal areas of Bilaspur and Chhattisgarh. So, the JSS method for early detection of UTIscosts less than Rs 2 per test, anaemia Re 1, diabetes Rs 2, pregnancy Rs 3. They have also developed low cost mosquito repellentcreams, breath counters for detection of pneumonia among children, easy-to-read BP instruments to prevent preeclampsia,and a simple water purification method whereby one can cycle for 15 minutes and get a bucket of potable water treated by UVlight. Low cost delivery kits with everything needed for the mother and child in the first 24 hours—gloves, large plastic sheets,soap, disinfectant, blade, gauze, sterilized threads, cotton cloth to wrap the baby, thick sanitary pads for women—are availablefor just Rs 40. These simple techniques are so designed that they can be used by illiterate and semi-literate village women andschool students. Then there are the more complicated tests like sputum concentration system for increasing the sensitivity ofmicroscopic diagnosis of tuberculosis and electrophoresis for detection of sickle cell anaemia, a common malady in the area.While electrophoresis costs Rs 300 in the market, using JSS technology it costs just Rs 20.The most innovative strategy put in place by JSS, however, is the malaria detection system. They have trained villagehealth workers in taking blood smears. These are labelled and neatly packed in small soap cases which are handed overthrough school children to bus drivers. On their way to school, the drivers drop the smears at the Ganiyari hospital run byJSS. Here they are immediately tested and the reports are sent back through the same buses on their return trip. This couriersystem has been operational in 21 villages in the area for the last 5 years and has saved many lives. It is now being extended fortuberculosis detection. These simple, innovative technologies developed by JSS can be used by all health workers to makediagnosis in peripheral, remote areas more rational and decrease misuse of drugs.