Andhra Pradesh has topped the list of Telemedicine service providers in India. The Telugu state is way ahead of other states in the country. When the central government started e-Sanjeevani Telemedicine services in 2019, the AP government took the lead and introduced the programme in the 13 medical colleges spread across 13 districts. As part of this, the YS Jagan government opened 1,145 Primary Health Centres ( PHCs) and YSR Village Clinics in these districts. In 2021, the government facilitated the people to avail the e-Sanjeevani Telemedicine services (OPD) on their mobile phones. The daily consultations for Telemedicine recorded in Andhra Pradesh state are far higher compared to other states and Union Territories ( UTs).

Record consultations from AP

Over 2.43 crore medical consultations were recorded since the introduction of e-Sanjeevani Telemedicine services in the country. Of these, 42 per cent (1,02,03,821) consultation calls were made from the state. With 37.7 lakh consultations, Karnataka gets the second spot in the list. Presently, around 75,000 consultations are being made every day. e-Sanjeevani OPD has been installed 85,351 times in the state. To improve the reach of e-Sanjeevani to all sections of people, the government has distributed mobile devices among 42,000 Asha workers who would help the people who find the mobile app enabled medical consultation challenging and also create awareness among people who are not using smartphones. Furthermore, the Andhra Pradesh government is planning to bring e-Sanjeevani services closer to the people with the assistance of Asha workers who are being trained by the Health, Medical & Family Welfare Department.

14 more medical hubs in the pipeline

Currently, e-Sanjeevani Telemedicine services are being rendered in 13 medical hubs across 13 districts. To expand the service area, the YS Jagan government is in the process of opening 14 more new medical hubs with an estimated Rs 5 crore expenditure. To this effect, 7 new medical hubs have already been inaugurated. Each medical hub will have two specialists each from General Medicine, Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Cardiology departments.

The Health, Medical & Family Welfare Department of AP aims to achieve a target of Five lakh daily consultations. Katamaneni Bhaskar, the commissioner for AP Health, Medical & Family Welfare Department said by March-end they will reach a target of 2 lakh daily consultations and by the end of this year, they aim to clock Five lakh consultations.

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