COVID-19: Over 100 pvt, not-for-profit entities join hands to launch tele-health network

New Delhi, Jun 23 () More than 100 private and not-for-profit entities have come together to launch a telemedicine platform 'Swasth' to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

"The mobile app-based service leverages India's technology prowess to deliver equal and affordable healthcare to 1.3 billion people, cutting across geographical and income divides," Swasth said in a statement.

"Swasth has brought together the best of resources in the country to provide free healthcare to bring quick relief during the crisis," Swasth Governing Council member Kris Gopalakrishnan said.

It will work to further public health goals and work in coordination with the Medical Council, public health organisations and the private sector to expand quality healthcare access to the masses, he added.

Swasth facilitates remote interaction between registered medical practitioners and patients through multiple modes of video and telephony. It deploys AI based triaging to determine the care required, culminating in a digitally signed prescription and treatment advice, the statement said.

Along with the free consultations, Swasth will also provide services like home quarantine assistance, diagnostics, pharmacies, hospital bed discovery and booking assistance at a subsidised cost, it added.

Swasth Governing Council member Nachiket Mor said on the launch that Swasth is a unique non-profit coalition of members from multiple sections of the Indian healthcare ecosystem, including individual doctors, small and large hospitals, diagnostic labs, pharmacies, telemedicine platforms, insurance companies, and healthcare-technology companies.

The members have joined hands with the goal of creating affordable healthcare for all Indians in every nook and corner of the country, so that they can immediately get the care that they need for this crisis, as well as for all their other healthcare needs, he added.

"... we expect to bring in almost a lakh plus providers so that we can offer to the general public a concerted response as far as the COVID-19 is concerned," Mor said.

Swasth is created by a not-for-profit consortium of different players across healthcare providers, telehealth platforms, entrepreneurs, technology experts and doctors, the statement said.

It has received a grant of Rs 10 crore from the ACT Grants, an umbrella platform of entrepreneurs and investors backing start-ups fighting the pandemic, it added. AKT MKJ