In order to care for COVID-19 patients in remote areas, the Ministry of Health and Sports announced the expansion of the Telehealth Service to 118 municipalities, thanks to the satellite connection.
Thanks to an agreement between the Ministry of Health, the Bolivian Space Agency (ABE) and the National Telecommunications Company (ENTEL), the Government of Bolivia will guarantee access to medical care through the "Telehealth Project for Bolivia" to 118 municipalities with reduced budgets in Health.
Health Minister Jeyson Auza explained that the government is seeking to strengthen remote medical care, especially during the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections that is occurring at the beginning of the year.
“Today we are in this important agreement signing together with ENTEL, the ABE because we are democratizing health, we have this Telehealth equipment in more than 350 establishments throughout the country, but it was worrying that 118 municipalities do not have this service that It consists in that each one of the specialists who are in the cities, will be able to provide care in all these establishments”, explained Auza.
Likewise, the minister explained that virtual patient care must continue to be strengthened in the country, so that the entire population has access to this type of service.
For his part, Iván Zambrana, executive general director of the ABE, explained that the satellite connection guarantees the connectivity of the telehealth program in all the municipalities that are part of it. “The life and health of Bolivians who live in remote areas matters and has the same value as the life of any Bolivian in any other point of our geography, this system that has been around for a few years and that today its operation is guaranteed for all in 2022, the reality of health in remote places has changed”, he explained.
As for the attention lines, the Ministry of Health enabled the free line 800-10-1104, for teleinterconsultations.
