KARACHI: Sehat Kah­ani, a leading e-health solution provider, launched recently a project that will enable critical care specialists to provide virtual advice in public and private intensive care units (ICUs) across Pakistan.

The first of its kind in the country, the Tele-ICU project is being supported by the United Nations Deve­lopment Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Health Services Academy and Ministry of Health.

“The project will allow doctors in ICUs to connect with critical care consultants and registrars virtually 24/7. The initial pilot will induct 60 ICUs across Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa and Balochistan. Virtual and on-site training will be conducted with the ICU staff,” says a press release.

Currently, only 50 to 70 critical care specialists were working in Pakistan to cater to the needs of a population of 200 million people. Most of these intensivists were concentrated in major cities, it added.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2020