By Muhammad Qasim
Al-Shifa Trust of Pakistan has signed an agreement with the government of The Gambia to provide short-term specialised professional training to their doctors and deserving patients from the West African nation will be offered free treatment.
Al-Shifa Trust and Gambia will also work together to offer ophthalmic services via telemedicine facility available at the Trust’s eye hospitals. While speaking at the signing ceremony, Major General Rehmat Khan, president of Al-Shifa Trust said the remote delivery of healthcare services over the telecommunications infrastructure will help improve the quality of life of people who do not in-person visit. Telemedicine allows healthcare providers to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients and it can also be used to take exams, he added.
He said Al-Shifa will also ensure remote patient monitoring, which is also known as telemonitoring, that allows patients to be monitored in their homes using mobile devices to collect data about temperature, blood sugar levels, blood pressure or other vital signs.
Rehmat Khan said they are pleased to extend their services beyond borders and this new collaboration is the first step in this regard which is very encouraging. Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital has already decided to expand its outreach to the countries that are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to build their capacity, prevent blindness and provide timely eye care, he informed.
He said they will put our best efforts in upgrading the skills of doctors and paramedical staff hailing from OIC countries through distant learning which in turn will enable them to serve the patients in a better way.
