NEW DELHI: The government has roped in retired military doctors to provide online consultation to civilian patients across the country under a telemedicine platform of the Union health ministry.
The initiative has been taken by the defence ministry as part of overall measures to help the civilian authorities in dealing with the rising cases of COVID-19.
"Ex-defence doctors will now provide online consultation on e-Sanjeevani OPD to all citizens of the country. Veterans have come forward to answer the call of the nation and offered their services to help the people needing medical care," the defence ministry said in a statement.
It said the service can be availed by any civilian on the website https://esanjeevaniopd.in/.
The e-Sanjeevani OPD is a flagship telemedicine platform of the government developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
"It provides free consultations to Indian citizens and is functioning extremely well," the defence ministry said.
It said due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, the demand for doctors has gone up while their availability has gone down due to deployment in COVID facilities.
"This is where the defence veterans are stepping in to help," it added.
The ministry said the response from the retired defence doctors has been good and more retired professionals are expected to join soon.
"Subsequently, a separate nationwide ex-defence doctors' OPD is envisaged.Their vast experience and expertise will help the larger clientele to obtain consultation from their homes and tide over the current situation," it said.
The number of retired military doctors who have opted to offer online consultation was not immediately known.