From left: Prof Yao Kwawukume, Prof Ernest Aryeetey (3rd left), Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof Jane Opoku Agyeman and officials of Airtel shortly after the launch of the service
Family Health Medical School, the leading private medical school in the country, has introduced telemedicine to its range of services to save patients who have to travel outside Ghana to seek for medical care at huge costs.
With the introduction of the service, patients can now call Family Health Hospital and book an appointment for live medical consultation with world class doctors in India and the USA.
Family Health Group comprises Family Health Hospital and Family Health Nursing School, in partnership with Apollo Hospital, India. The telemedicine innovation would, among other things, enhance knowledge for medical students, cut patients cost and hours of waiting and additionally open avenues to train staff of its maintenance unit.
Minister for Education, Prof Jane Naana Opoku Agyeman, has commended the President of Family Health Medical School, Prof Yao Kwawukume, and the entire management team for introducing the service.
Prof Kwawukume, in a welcome address, disclosed that the telemedicine would enable Family Health Group to communicate effectively with their counterparts in Asia, particularly India, the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University in the USA and other counterparts in Britain and South Africa.
“We would in due course link with the University of Ghana, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Korle-Bu,’’ he disclosed.
In education, Prof Kwawukume said their students, post-graduate students and the nursing students would have complete access to the facility all day round and would enhance the number of lecturers the school will have.
In addition, they would use the telemedicine facility to have continuous medical education with their counterparts in other areas of the world so that their students would not feel disadvantaged. It would also help to seek second opinion in the health sector so that in cases of doubtful diagnosis, discussions would be held with the rest of the world, especially doctors in the Diaspora who have already shown a lot of interest in joining Family Health Medical Hospital.
Chairing the occasion was Prof Ernest Aryeetey, Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana.
A health desk report