Neurology India Medknow Publications on behalf of the Neurological Society of India ISSN: 0028-3886 EISSN: 1998-4022 Vol. 53, Num. 2, 2005, pp. 242-242

Neurology India, Vol. 53, No. 2, April-June, 2005, pp. 242

Letter To Editor

Authors' Reply

Misra U.K., Kalita J., Mishra S.K., Yadav R.K.

Departments of Neurology, Sanjay Gandhi PGIMS, Lucknow
Correspondence Address: Departments of Neurology, Sanjay Gandhi PGIMS, Lucknow ukmisra@sgpgi.ac.in

Date of Acceptance: 12-May-2005

Code Number: ni05079

Related articles: ni05078

Sir,

We read with interest the comments on our paper entitled ′Telemedicine in neurology: underutilized potential.′[1] Doubtlessly there is great awareness about the virtues of telemedicine in India and a number of interested groups have been applying it for teleconsultation for patient care. On Medline search, however, only a few articles on teleneurology are seen from India, most of which have been cited in our paper. The groups that have been practicing telemedicine but have not published their experience in Indexed journals are not cited in our paper. It is important that the experience of different groups should be documented and brought to the notice of the scientific community so that the leadership of India in the field of software should also be extended to the field of telemedicine. It is heartening that after the publication of our paper, a few more articles on telemedicine have been published from India and are mentioned in the above-mentioned comments.

Currently, there is increasing interest in telemedicine in different regions of our country; however, the application of telemedicine has inherent contradictions. On one hand, telemedicine is needed for the development and health care of remote areas, which are often inaccessible and economically backward. On the other hand, telemedicine requires broadband telecommunication infrastructure, hardware and trained manpower all of which are expensive. However, for interested groups both governmental and private funding agencies should come forward and provide the much needed support. Telemedicine cannot be practiced in isolation; it is a group activity and its essence is connectivity and collaboration. The scope of telemedicine should be widened to include teaching and research besides patient care.

REFERENCES

Copyright 2005 - Neurology India