THE Sindh Health Department has decided to offer ‘online OPD’ through the platform of the second major hospital run by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), while the facility will also be made available on ‘Find My Doctor’ App within the next two weeks.
A plan is also in the works to convert this hospital into a ‘data centre’ which could help identify disease prevalence in different areas of Karachi and launch awareness campaigns accordingly.
Punjab was considered to be the leader as far as use of information technology for the benefit and welfare of the masses is concerned as countless initiatives were launched during the last about one decade for the purpose, which have made lives of the people easier.
However, now Sindh is taking the lead in providing innovative solutions to the day-to-day problems of the people.
A few days back, a landmark app ‘Talash’ was launched to help check street crimes in Karachi and now patients would be able to consult doctors and get required medicines while sitting in their own homes.
The initiative of Online OPD would revolutionize the public health delivery system once it is replicated in other hospitals of the province.
A great rush of people is witnessed at all OPDs throughout the country where infirm patients have to wait for hours to consult a doctor and get medical advice.
Proper and smooth implementation of the Online OPD scheme would help cope with this rush and also save time and money of the poor patients that they presently spend on travelling and waiting in rows in hospitals.
In fact, the online consultation and prescription is already in vogue in the private sector but its use is limited to the resourceful people.
The introduction of this practice in governmental hospitals and medical facilities would change the entire landscape of the health sector and, therefore, Sindh’s initiative needs to be emulated by other provinces and the Centre as well.
