Affordable and accessible Tele-healthcare to rural areas of Pakistan through web and mobile based technologies

Development in information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to provide affordable and accessible Tele-healthcare services in developing countries. In rural and remote areas of Pakistan, lady health workers (LHWs) are the main source of healthcare provision. This paper presents a model for providing tele-healthcare services using web and mobile phone based technologies to rural and resource-poor areas of Pakistan. Using the proposed model in this paper, these LHWs will be using SMS and MMS technology to provide healthcare services to people in rural areas of Pakistan. The initiative led to Jaroka Tele-healthcare project, in which the actual implementation of the model is being carried out. This project is currently implemented in Zahidabad, a village in Mardan, NWFP Pakistan. We also discuss the project implementation, methodology, its services and statistics of treatment of patients at Mardan facility, potential benefits and challenges.