The Government of Ecuador will launch a pilot project for telemedicine and teleeducation via satellite, to benefit rural areas.
With the support of a telecommunications company, the Ministry of Telecommunications and the Information Society, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Health and the Vice Presidency of Ecuador, they will implement two pilot projects of teleeducation and telemedicine via satellite.
The telemedicine project will consist of the installation of a remote teleconsultation system in a rural parish located in Cuasha in the Province of Pastaza in the northeast of the country, this system will connect with a remote monitoring system that will be installed in the General Hospital of Puyo.
Through the teleconsultation system, various medical examinations can be carried out and support in diagnoses. For example, medical professionals will have the opportunity to perform EKGs and perform real-time inspections of patients' skin, irises, throats and ears. In addition, it has a monitor, camera and microphones to hold videoconferences.
The Vice President of Ecuador, Alfredo Borrero, highlighted the importance of projects that provide access to health services to remote populations: “there are areas of Ecuador that are very difficult to access, which makes it impossible for patients to reach their health centers. Definitely, we must use those mechanisms, such as this telemedicine solution that we are seeing here, that help us to make this access to health total and that includes not only us doctors, but all health personnel in general”.
On the other hand, the pilot tele-education system will benefit five schools that do not have Internet connectivity and will promote the educational development of more than 400 students in these schools.
