The project will expand the Virtual Doctors telemedicine service into 250 rural health centres in Districts across all Provinces of Zambia. The project will allow clinicians to treat more patients in their own communities, helping to save lives. Considering the average population catchment of a rural health centre is 10,000 people, up to 2,500,000 people with no direct access to a doctor could benefit the Virtual Doctors service. Its costs just $2,000 to set up the service in one clinic.
There are countless cases of unnecessary morbidity & mortality in rural communities from very easily treatable conditions, often because of a lack of a local Doctor. Clinicians based in rural clinics struggle to deal with complex cases & often refer patients to distant hospitals. This often entails long & arduous journeys incurring costs to sick patient with little or no money. At the hospital, they can experience more waiting times or admission for treatment, incurring additional costs.
Our project is to help Clinicians improve their skills & knowledge so that they can treat more patients in their communities & mitigate unnecessary referrals to distant hospitals, helping to save lives. The service supports a clinician, faced with a complex case, to create a patient case on a bespoke telemedicine app we created specifically for use in low resource settings in rural Africa. A remote based volunteer Doctor receives the case & provides diagnostic & treatment advice to the clinician
1. A reduction in unnecessary morbidity & mortality in rural communities. 2. A reduction in the number of unnecessary referrals to distant & hard to reach hospitals. 3. Improved skills & knowledge of rural clinicians, so the next time they are faced with a complex case, they know how to deal with it.
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