SeekMed has launched a telemedicine mobile application to improve access and availability of healthcare services in Nigeria.
The mobile application, home to a host of doctors who are recipients of Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, the third and fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India respectively, is set to offer Nigerians the choice of getting impeccable medical diagnostics from the comfort of their homes.
With improved medical and pharmaceutical advances in Cardiology (Disorders of the heart), Oncology (Cancer related ailments), Neuro-surgery (Nervous system disorders), Nephrology (Kidney disorders) and Orthopedics (Bone disorders) – India has become a medical hotspot for different countries, most especially Nigeria.
Speaking on some of the unique features of the telemedicine App, Alok Awasthi, founder of SeekMed said that in 2015, it was reported that 5,994 Nigerians made up a small percentage in the 460,000 people who visited India, half of which reportedly visited for medical reasons.
“With SeekMed, you can easily send an appointment request to your trusted doctor, make an online payment, share scans/reports and have video consultation from the comfort of your home, thereby eliminating the often gruesome yet unavoidable decision of travelling long distances for just a few minutes of consultation; a considerably cheaper alternative” Awasthi said.
According to him, over the past three years, this figure has increased. It is estimated that about 20,000 Nigerians have visited the Nation for medical tourism due to the sheer volume of medical experts and easy accessibility to top-notch medical infrastructure in the Asian nation almost 8,000 kilometers away.
“India’s medical sector contributed $79 Billion to the country’s GDP in 2012 and this figure was doubled in just five years rising as high as $160 Billion in 2017, making up 17 percent of the country’s generated revenue”.
Whereas Nigeria’s lawmakers said a year ago that Nigerians spend $1 billion annually on medical treatments abroad and India was notably the top destination for Nigerians seeking medical attention abroad.
However, SeekMed, a user-friendly mobile interactive medicine application which is available for download on Google Play Store, allows patients and physicians to communicate in real-time while maintaining HIPAA compliance.
The mobile app is set to curb the amount of money spent on medical diagnosis and travel plans whilst offering Nigerians access to a host of top-ranked physicians’ right from the comfort of their home and on their mobile phone.
Sharad Dubey, co-founder SeekMed expanding on the merits of the app said that “The unique features of this mobile App includes and not limited to access to India’s leading physicians who will send reports and write prescriptions as well as an unlimited upload of files; you can also mark your favourite physician for quicker identification and seamless follow-up” he added.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
