Ministerial Conference on
Environment and Development
in Asia and the Pacific 2000
Kitakyushu, Japan 31 August - 5 September 2000
|
|
|
Marshalls Benefit from Cyber-Medicine By Giff Johnson ACCESS to an Internet-based medical consulting program is saving the Marshall Islands tens of thousands of dollars in costly off-island referrals and improving the quality of treatment for patients at Majuro Hospital, according to doctors in Majuro. The “tele-medicine” program links the Marshalls through the Internet with the Pacific Islands Healthcare Project at the US Army Tripler Hospital in Honolulu. The north Pacific islands of Palau, Yap, Chuuk and Pohnpei are also participating in the physician network. Besides the considerable cost savings, the tele-med system has given a tremendous boost to once-isolated physicians working in the islands. “It allows us to consult with many medical specialists (in the Tripler system),” said Dr. Kamal Gunawardane, Majuro Hospital’s surgeon. “We’ve received very helpful advice and recommendations for managing patients”. During 1998, Majuro Hospital doctors went “on-line” through the tele-med program to get consultations on more than 40 local patients, according to Gunawardane. http://www.pim.com.fj/99_02/feb.html#Anchor-58182
|
|
|