With the current population increase outgrowing the local healthcare resources, lawmakers and doctors in the Philippines are calling for the immediate adoption of international telehealth standards or E-health -- the practice of applying ICT for healthcare delivery and education for the underserved.
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"We must maximize telehealth potential and adopt international telehealth standards," said Senator Edgardo Angara, in his keynote address read at the first "eHealth & Telemedicine Philippines 2009" conference and exhibition which opened yesterday at the Crowne Plaza Galleria in Quezon City.
HEALTHCARE AND TECHNOLOGY. Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Undersecretary Fortunato "Boy" Dela Peña (extreme right), representing Senator Edgardo J. Angara, 14th Congress chairman of Senate Committee on Science and Technology, and Dr. Ramon L. Arcadio, chancellor of the University of the Philippines (Manila), open the First eHealth and Telemedicine Conference and Exhibition, co-sponsored by Media G8way Corp. and the UP (Manila). The event brings together the major players of the healthcare and IT industries, to emphasize the importance of the use of technology in delivering quality health services. Also present during the opening are (at the back, from left) Angeloe Timoteo Diaz de Rivera, commissioner of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology; and Dr. Alvin Marcelo, director of the National Telehealth Center. Running May 7 to May 8 at the Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila, Ortigas Avenue, Quezon City. MEDIA G8WAY PHOTO
In his speech read by Department of Science and Technology (DOST) undersecretary Fortunato "Boy" Dela Pena, Angara stressed that the mandate remains the same in solving the country's problem on healthcare, which is improving the scope and quality of healthcare while driving down its cost. And the best solution he said is "E-Health."
Angara, who pushed for the creation of the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), said the adoption of international telehealth standards can be achieved by promoting international collaboration, sharing and learning experiences from other countries.
Yet he said the Philippines must look inwards by directing further research on telehealth technologies and systems that could be best implemented in the country.
"We need E-health because it brings health human resources to remote areas, delivers clinical expertise to regions where it is absent and badly needed to save lives, and it allows for better utilization of resources and expertise by tracking the allocation of health professionals," Angara said, citing some of the benefits of e-health.
Angara reported that COMSTE, together with the UP-Manila National Telehealth Center (NThC) and other stakeholders, are forming a consensus in strengthening the current local telehealth system and recently allotted Php100 million for the project.
Angara added members of the Engineering Research and Development for Technology (ERDT), a group of engineers dedicated to the improvement of low-cost biomedical devices and ICT for health, are also complementing the efforts being done by COMSTE and the NThC.
"Advocate E-Health not for your sake, but your children's. They will inherit the problems of today," Angara told conference audience, who are mostly doctors, administration officers and IT personnel in private hospitals.
The eHealth & Telemedicine Philippines 2009 is a two-day conference and exhibition jointly organized by Media G8way Corp., University of the Philippines, and NThC.
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