Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

Government of India set up Space Commission and Department of Space (DOS) in June 1972. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under DOS executes Space programme through its establishments located in different places in India. ISRO a government organization with the prime objective is to develop space technology and its application to various national tasks. As a part of application of space technology for health care and education, under GRAMSAT (rural satellite) programme, ISRO has initiated a number of Telemedicine pilot projects. These projects consist of, linking through Indian National Satellite (INSAT), remote/rural areas like Jammu, Kashmir & Ladhakh in north near Himalayas, Offshore Islands of Andaman and Lakshadweep, North Eastern States District Hospitals/Health Centres.

ISRO’s telemedicine initiative includes providing connectivity between remote/rural hospital and super specialty hjospital for tele-consultation, treatment and training, Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Mobile Telemedicine units for rural and community health.

Presently ISRO’s Telemedicine Network consists of 245 Hospitals – 205 Remote/Rural/District Hospital/Health Center connected to 40 Super Specialty Hospital located in the major cities with the following highlights

With the steady growth of Telemedicine application, it is also envisaged to develop an exclusive “HEALTHSAT” for meeting the health care needs of the country at large. The technology of DVB-RCS is proposed to be adopted for the Future Telemedicine Network.

ISRO has also evolved the concept of Village Resource Center (VRC) and implemented through a partnership with M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). This satellite based project, ISRO-MSSRF-VRC, aims for digital connectivity to remote villages for providing multiple services such as telemedicine, tele-education and remote sensing applications through a single window. www.isro.org/rep2005/SpaceApplications.htm

• Switch off all Equipments particularly LCD Screens, computers  and Video Conferencing Camera