Dialog Axiata & Huawei Donate Telepresence Infrastructure and Connectivity to Ministry of Health

How health care professionals across the country can coordinate virtually via telepresence solutions.

Photographed left to right: Liang Yi, CEO, Huawei Technologies Lanka Co., (PVT) Ltd., Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services, Hon. Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Minister of Health and Indigenous Medical Services, Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, and Huawei Technologies Lanka Co., (Pvt) Ltd, donated Telepresence and connectivity solutions to 30 hospitals covering district general hospitals, teaching hospitals and the designated COVID-19 treatment centres that operate under the aegis of Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services (MOH). The fully-fledged Telepresence platform is set to enable the MOH with a national collaborative eHealth system to deliver centralised health care, health education, and health information services via remote collaboration technologies.

This partnership aims to provide preventative, promotive, curative, and rehabilitative care delivery including remote medical expert consultations, medical education and training, health information services, and mobile access for field personnel via telecommunications and digital communication technologies such as live video conferencing. One of the main advantages of this solution is that health care professionals can coordinate and receive expert advice from specialists at main hospitals to treat patients in distant areas without moving them. This allows health care providers to discuss medical cases over video conference, forward tests between facilities for interpretation by higher specialists, monitor patients through continuous sharing of updated health data, conduct training for health care staff, coordinate between hospitals and facilities, carry out professional health-related education and conduct public health administration. Furthermore, another advantage of these solutions is that specialist doctors in distant national hospitals can remotely coordinate with leading specialists in teaching hospitals to exchange medical and educational information.

Huawei Technologies will be offering the Telepresence collaboration solutions and perform the necessary installation of the solutions at the hospitals designated by the MOH whilst providing maintenance and support services free of charge for a period of three years. Dialog will support the initiative by providing free connectivity linking the 30 hospitals during the said three-year period.

Hon. Pavithra Wanniarachchi - Minister of Health and Indigenous Medical Services said, “We are thankful to Dialog and Huawei for instigating this next phase of the development of this nation’s health care services. Currently health care professionals from all over the country need to come to Colombo for all kinds of discussions and conferences but now with these solutions we can maintain the recommended social distancing and avoid having to bring all experts to Colombo by simply coordinating virtually among centres in different regions.”

Dr. Anil Jasinghe - Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services said, “We are indeed grateful for Dialog and Huawei for facilitating these Telepresence solutions to the MOH, thereby enabling healthcare providers of 30 hospitals across the country in all districts, to efficiently provide care while promoting access, collaboration, and resource sharing across borders, by establishing a national collaborative eHealth system. We are especially thankful to Dialog and Huawei for providing these facilities during this COVID-19 pandemic when it is needed the most.”

Commenting, Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC said, “We are grateful to Huawei and the Ministry of Health for partnering us in this initiative to deploy the very latest Telepresence infrastructure to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing amongst healthcare professionals across the country. We are pleased to note that this centralised collaborative eHealth system will help serve our country during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and beyond by enabling close engagement among healthcare professionals through an augmented video conferencing experience. We are always committed to providing access to the very best in technology that can truly make a difference in the lives of our people.”

“As with many Buddhist Dhammapada verses ‘Health is ultimate wealth’”, Liang Yi, Chief Executive Officer, Huawei Technologies Lanka Co., (PVT) Ltd. said, “It’s our honour to partner with Dialog Axiata PLC and Ministry of Health, to help fight with this epic battle through innovative ICT solutions. The whole Sri Lankan nation is making immense efforts, together we will overcome the challenge and bring healthy life back to this beautiful island.”