Open AccessTelemedicine during COVID-19: India embracing the change
Author(s) -
Manoj Kumar Pathak,
Srishti Rai
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
indian journal of forensic and community medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2394-6776
pISSN - 2394-6768
DOI - 10.18231/j.ijfcm.2021.053
Subject(s) - telemedicine , pandemic , covid-19 , health care , panic , medicine , disease , medical emergency , public relations , economic growth , political science , psychiatry , anxiety , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics
Telemedicine has been around for decades but it has taken foreground in health services recently. When COVID-19 cases started to be reported in the country it brought with itself panic and chaos. At all India level, the adult literacy rate is 77.7%, this could also be linked to unawareness related to the disease in rural areas. The sudden countrywide lockdown imposed was of no help and further worsened the situation for economically weaker section of the society. During the struggle of our nation to overcome the COVID-19 Telemedicine has indeed played a vital role. People in fear of contacting the disease and due to nationwide lockdown were unable to reach their health care provider. People with pre-existing conditions that needs regular monitoring, pregnancy related queries, queries on new symptoms, psychological counselling and many more could not wait for the COVID-19 to be over before they get any help on the issues. Telemedicine shall continue developing and be used in a multitude of settings by more health-care doctors and patients, and these standards of practice will be a crucial driver within this evolution.